1  PB9 


tihvmy  of  trKc  Chcolo^tcal  ^tminavy 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


Presented  by 
Rev  .   Theodore  S  ,   V.ynkoop 


SABBATH  EVEiNING  READINGS 


NEW    TESTAMENT 


EEV.  JOHN  CUMMIKG,  D.D.,  F.E.S.E., 

MINISTER  OP  THE  SCOTTISH  NATIONAL  CHITRCH,  CROWN  COURT,  COVENT  GARDEN,  LONDON 


ST.     LUKE. 


BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED  BY  JOHN  P.  JEWETT  AND   COMPANY. 

CLEVELAND,   OHIO: 

JEWETT    AND    PKOCTOR. 

NEW    YORK  :     SIIELDOX,    LAMPORT    AND    BLAKEMAN. 
1855. 


CAMBRIDGE : 

ALLEN   AND   FARNIIAM,   STEREOTVl-ERS   AND    PRINTERS. 


PREFACE. 


Whilst  I  thank  God  and  take  courage  because 
these  Readings  have  received  so  large  a  circulation, 
extending  monthly  and  weekly  to  many  thousands, 
and  have  lighted  up  many  a  fireside  with  pure,  if 
not  brilliant  instruction,  I  find  nevertheless,  they 
have  not  given  satisfaction  to  everybody.  Com- 
plaint, it  is  true,  is  the  exception,  but  complaint  has 
been  expressed.  The  most  determined. opponent  is 
a  writer  in  a  monthly  periodical,  called  "  The  Baptist 
Magazine,"  whose  own  mind  seems  extremely  unin- 
structed,  and  his  feelings,  for  what  reason  it  is  impos- 
sible to  guess,  irritated  and  hostile.  A  few  remarks 
on  his  critique  may  be  useful  to  the  reader,  and  per- 
haps to  him  also.  It  seems  I  have  stated  in  the 
Readings  on  St.  Matthew  "  that  there  is  no  evidence 
of  demoniacal  possession  subsequent  to  the  death  of 
our  blessed  Lord."  On  this  the  writer  asks,  "  If  this 
be  true,  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  words  of  Jesus 
addressed  to  his  disciples,  'And  these  signs  shall  fol- 
low them  that  believe ;  in  my  name  shall  they  cast 
out  devils  ? '  "  He  quotes  also  instances  of  expul- 
sion of  evil  spirits,  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.     To 

(iu) 


IV  rREFACK. 

a  candid  mind  it  would  have  been  obvious  that  I 
meant,  no  new  possessions  after  that  event.  I  did 
not  mean  to  convey,  nor  do  my  words  convey,  that 
all  demoniacs  ceased  the  instant  Jesus  cried,  "  It  is 
finished,"  but  that  then  and  there  evil  spirits  ceased 
to  take  possession ;  while  I  did  not,  and  do  not,  deny 
that  demoniacs,  taken  possession  of  prior  to  the 
death  of  Jesus,  continued  till  they  died,  or  till  their 
evil  tenants  were  exorcised  by  apostles. 

There  were  demoniacs  before  the  death  of  Christ. 
Some  of  them  outlived  his  death  and  the  day  of 
Pentecost ;  but  after  their  departure,  and  for  eighteen 
hundi-ed  years,  as  far  as  we  have  any  credible  record, 
no  evil  spuits  have  entered  into  human  beings,  and 
made  them  what  Scripture  calls  demoniacs.  It  is 
undignified  and  unutterably  small  to  quibble  about 
words  in  a  captious  spirit,  and  especially  in  a  relig- 
ious magazine.  Either  the  writer  must  admit  that 
demoniacs  have  continued  since  the  age  of  the  apos- 
tles, or  that  those  existing  in  the  days  of  Jesus  died 
out  in  his  lifetime,  or  were  freed  from  their  demons 
soon  after,  in  consequence  of,  and  in  connection 
with,  the  death  of  Jesus. 

The  A\Titer's  next  criticism,  which  is  as  unfortu- 
nate as  all  the  rest,  is  as  follows. 

I  have  observed  on  Matt.  xxi.  19 :  "  The  expres- 
sion, '  Let  no  fruit  grow  on  thee  henceforward  for- 
ever,' is  perhaps  over  strong;  'forever'  is  not  the 
Greek  word  translated  '  forever '  in  the  sense  of  ever- 
lasting, but.  Let  no  fruit  grow  on  thee  elg  rbv  alcova,  that 
is,  till  the  age.  What  age?  Why,  the  age  when 
the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  shall  come,  and  the  Jew 
shall  be  grafted  in." 


PREFACE.  V 

My  critic  adds,  "  Let  the  reader  judge  the  correct- 
ness of  this  statement  from  the  following  verses,  in 
which  the  words  elg  tov  aicjva  are  employed :  '  I  am  the 
living  bread ;  if  any  man  eat  of  this  bread  he  shall 
live  forever,'  elg  rbv  aluvaj^  He  selects  apparently  from 
the  Englishman's  Greek  Concordance  a  series  of 
similar  texts,  and  on  the  strength  of  his  collection  he 
says,  "Dr.  C.'s  statement  is  rash,  unqualified,  and 
incorrect."  The  candid  reader  will  see  at  once  that 
I  do  not  pronounce  on  the  general  use  of  aluvj  — 
which  means  simply  "  age,"  and  is  applied  often  to 
this  dispensation,  —  or  of  its  specific  use  with  the 
preposition  ek.  All  I  assert  is,  that  in  the  passage 
on  which  I  was  commenting  "  the  translation  ^  for- 
ever' is  perhaps  over  strong."  I  could  not  have 
expressed  myself  with  greater  delicacy,  or  ^vith  a 
more  obvious  reference  to  those  uses  of  the  words 
which  my  critic  has  collected.  But  the  reader  asks, 
Why  hesitate  to  give  elg  tov  duva  the  usual  meaning 
"  forever  "  in  this  passage  ?  The  reviewer  is  clearly 
unaccustomed  to  delicate  exegesis,  and  may  be  par- 
doned his  ignorance.  The  question  of  the  ordinary 
reader,  for  whom  these  Readings  are  intended,  I  at 
once  proceed  to  reply  to.  The  fig-tree  was  confess- 
edly the  type  of  the  Jewish  people,  and  its  blasting 
the  symbol  of  their  decay  and  dispersion.  If  "  for- 
ever "  be  the  textual  meaning  here,  how  can  I  recon- 
cile it  with  the  express  prediction  of  our  Lord, 
repeated  in  three  of  the  Gospels,  that  the  fig-tree  is 
to  put  forth  her  buds  as  well  as  the  prediction  of  St. 
Paul,  that  the  Jews  shall  again  be  graffed  in  ?  It  is 
the  symbolical  nature  of  the  fig-tree,  and  its  wither- 
ing at  the  words  of  Jesus,  that  made  me  suggest, 


VI  PKEFACE. 

rather  than  dogmatically  assert,  the  modified  sense 
of  £iV  Tbv  aiuva.  But  to  show  how  a  true  scholar,  to 
whom  I  have  expressed  my  deep  obhgations  in  my 
Lectures  on  the  Mkacles  and  Parables,  estimates 
these  words,  I  quote  from  Professor  Trench's  work 
on  the  Miracles  as  follows  :  "And  yet  this  '  forever ' 
has  its  merciful  limitation,  when  we  come  to  transfer 
the  curse  from  the  tree  to  that  of  which  the  tree  was 
a  living  parable  —  a  limitation  which  the  word  ek  rbv 
aluva  favors  and  allows.  None  shall  eat  fruit  of  that 
tree  to  the  end  of  the  aluv,  not  until  the  times  of  the 
Gentiles  are  fulfilled."  I  am  quite  satisfied  to  be 
found  in  company  with  so  competent  a  scholar  as 
the  Professor  of  Divinity  of  King's  College,  London, 
even  if  it  should  expose  me  to  the  ignorant  and 
school-boy  criticism  of  B.  in  the  "  Baptist  Magazine." 
I  have  given  a  little  space  to  this  criticism,  because 
it  is  a  sample  of  a  style  of  comment  on  these  Read- 
ings, which  apparently  the  same  writer  is  inserting 
in  one  or  two  periodicals  of  extreme  views  which 
have  been  sent  me. 

It  does  seem  not  altogether  the  right  spirit,  to  try 
to  hinder  the  circulation  of  evangelical  instruction 
among  the  ignorant,  on  pretexts  and  gi-ounds  which 
the  learned  alone  can  easily  expose  and  demolish. 

The  writer  in  the  "  Baptist  Magazine  "  should  not 
calculate  on  the  ignorance  of  his  readers,  and  so 
venture  to  make  assertions  which  require  educated 
men  to  reply  to  and  expose. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  ,1. 

PAGB 

The  Evangelist  Luke  —  A  Physician  —  Kefers  to  other  Writers  —  This 
Gospel  written  by  a  Layman  —  Addressed  to  a  Layman —  Zacha- 
rias  and  Elizabeth  —  Birth  of  John  —  Song  of  Zacharias 


CHAPTE^l    II. 

Prophecy  Fulfilled  —  Taxing  a  Difficulty  —  ^Manger  —  Shepherd  Vigils 

—  Christmas  in  April  —  Mary's  keeping  and  pondering  these  thmgs 

—  Mary's  Ofiering  —  Simeon's  Song  —  Jesus  grew  in  Stature  — 
His  Father's  Business 20 


CHAPTER    HI. 

Ministry  of  John  —  Tetrarchs  —  High  Priests  —  Baptism  —  Apostles 
not  Baptized  with  Water  —  Hebrew  names  in  Kew  Testament  — 
Translations  —  John's  Preaching —  Questions  put  to  John  —  Bap- 
tism of  Jesus  —  Baptism  with  Fire  —  Descent  of  Spirit        .        .      37 


CHAPTER   IV. 

The  Temptation  —  Jesus  led,  not  went  —  Weapon  of  Defence  —  Satan 
—  His  Defeat  and  Departure  —  Public  Worship  —  Jesus  expound- 
ing the  Scriptures  —  La  Calvaire  at  Antwerp,  and  Perversion  of 
Scripture 47 


CHAPTER   IV.   (Continued.) 

Jesus  in  the  Desert  —  Prays  by  Night  and  preaches  by  Day  —  Jesus 
preaches  in  Cities  —  Christian  Revolution  —  Christianity  courts  In- 
quiry —  Cities  Centres  of  Influence 


CHAPTER   V. 

Popularity  of  the  Teaching  of  Jesus  —  Pulpit  Ship  —  Simon's  Ex- 
perience as  a  Fisherman,  and  Christ's  Word  —  Peter  overwhelmed 

(vii) 


vni  CONTENTS. 

—  Leper  healed  —  Absolution  —  The  Paralytic  —  Cull  of  Levi  — 
Luke's  Account  of  St.  ]Matthew  — Hospitality  — New  Wine  and 
Old  Bottles      .        .        .        .        .        .        .  '     • 


CHAPTER    V.   (Continued.) 

An  Aphorism  —  The  Eighteous  —  The  Psuedo-righteous  —  The  cere- 
monially Righteous  —  Sincerity,  its  Value  —  Sinners  —  Election  — 
Difficulties  —  Nature  and  Dm-ation  of  Sin 76 


CHAPTER   VL 

Eating  Com  on  the  Sabbath  —  Christ  Vindicates  the  Disciples  —  A 
Man  with  a  Withered  Hand  —  Carping  Sciibes  mad  at  Jesus  — 
Jesus  Man  as  truly  as  God  —  Selection  of  Apostles  —  Discourse 
on  the  Mount  —  Inspu-ation  and  Style  —  Speaking  well  of  Mkacles 
—  Law-suits 


CHAPTER   VI.   (Continued.) 
The  great  End  —  Two  Plans  —  Various  Grounds  of  Hope  and  Trust    100 

CHAPTER   VII. 

The  Teaching  of  Jesus  for  all  — The  Good  Soldier  — His  Faith  — 
Soldiers  are  often  the  very  best  Christians  —  Extramural  Inter- 
ments—  The  only  Son  of  a  Widow  —  Raising  of  Dead  Son  —  The 
Sinner  Woman  —  Sennons  —  Difficulties  —  Sin  forgiven    .        .      109 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

The  Divine  Preacher — Misrepresentations  of  Mary  Magdalene  —  The 
Sower  —  Influence  of  Character  —  True  Affinity  —  The  Lord  of 
Wind  and  Waves  —  A  Demoniac  —  Evil  Spirits  —  Hell  and  Hades 
—  The  Swine  —  Sitting  at  Jesus' Feet 121 


CHAPTER    VIII.   (Continued.) 

The  afflicted  Woman  —  A  great  Sufferer  not  always  a  great  Sinner  — 
Search  of  Health  —  Empiricism  —  True  but  erring  Faith  —  Faith 
and  Sense  —  Cure  and  Confession  —  Obstructions         .        .        .132 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Christ's  Miracles  and  those  of  the  Apostles  —  IModern  Miracles  — 
Herod  —  Miracle  of  Five  Loaves  and  Two  Fishes  —  Personal  Re- 
ligion—  The  Mount  Tabor  —  A  Demoniac  healed  —  Clerical  Ri- 
valry —  Intolerance  —  Persecution  —  Following  Christ         .        .     146 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    IX.    (Continued.) 

A  Volunteer  —  Extent  of  Offer  —  Answer  of  Jesus  —  Place  of  Jesus 
on  Earth  —  Jesus  says  to  another,  Follow  Me  —  Preach  —  Another 
Excuse  —  Keasons  Avhy  Men  refuse  Christ 156 


CHAPTER   X. 

The  Seventy— Then-  Mission  — The  Fall  of  Satan  — Joy  of  Jesus  — 
The  Law  and  its  Obligations  —  My  Neighbor        .        .        .        .167 


CHAPTER   X.    (Continued.) 
Martha  and  Maiy 175 

CHAPTER   X.   (Continued.) 
One  Thing  Needful 191 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Prayer  —  Form  —  Sunplicity —  Paternal  —  Social  —  Order  —  Perse- 
verance —  Prayer  is  Privilege  rather  than  Duty  —  Christ's  Mira- 
cles —  Conflict  —  Kecurrence  to  EvU  is  hardening  —  Mary  —  This 
Generation,  or  the  Jewish  Race — Baptism — Woes      .        .        .    198 

CHAPTER   XII. 

Caution  —  Hypocrisy  —  Words  have  endless  Echoes  —  Soul's  separate 
Existence  —  Special  Providence  —  Sin  against  the  Holy  Spirit  — 
The  Clergy  and  Politics  —  Covetousness  —  Character — The  Rich 
Fool  —  God  will  provide  —  Heart  and  Treasure  —  Coming  of 
Christ — Degrees  of  Suffei-ing  and  Joy  —  Signs  of  the  Times  .    .    212 

CHAPTER   XII.   (Continued.) 

Division  in  this  Dispensation  —  Reasons  of — Causes  of — Fallen 
Race  —  Sin  —  Enmity  of  Natural  ]\Ian  —  Presence  of  Satan  — 
Families 226 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Sudden  Death  —  Inferences  from  Sin  and  Suffering  —  Dem"ees  of  Suf- 
fering not  always  Evidence  of  Sin  —  Paternal  and  Penal  Judg- 
ment not  Man's  Part  —  Repentance  and  Penance  —  Practical  Re- 
ligion—  Barren  Fig-tree  —  Infirm  Woman — A  carping  Ecclesias- 
tic —  Curious  Questions  rightly  answered  —  False  Hopes  —  Last 
Festival 240 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


Dining  on  the  Sabbath  Day  —  Healing  on  Sabbath  Day  —  Parable  — 
Social  Entertainments  —  Festival  and  Guests —  Unity  in  EiTor  and 
Evil  —  Excuses  —  Relative  Duties  —  Salt  —  Lights  —  Loss  of  Char- 
acter         261 


CHAPTER   XIV.   (Contmued.) 

Apologies  —  Spiritual  Taste  —  They  that  are  well  —  Mistaken  Fears 
—  Inconsistencies  —  Want  of  Time  —  Inability  —  Procrastination    271 


CHAPTER    XIV.   (Contmued.) 

Forethought  —  Tower-building  —  Often  Castle-building  in  the  Air  — 
War  —  Religion  of  our  Faith  —  The  Religion  of  the  Crown  —  The 
Religion  of  Personal  Feeling — The  Religion  of  the  Arts  —  The 
Religion  of  Form  —  Of  Intellect  —  Of  Conscience — Of  Natural 
Affection  — True  Relimon 2S0 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Practice  of  Jesus  —  Objection  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  —  The 
Lost  Sheep  —  Answer  to  Sceptic  and  Romish  Objections  —  Lost 
Coin  —  Its  Recovery —^  The  Prodigal  Son  —  His  Apostasy  —  Re- 
pentance and  Return  —  Reception  —  Elder  Son  —  Inspiration  of 
the  Parables 293 


CHAPTER  XV.    (Continued.) 

Meet  rejoicing  —  Our  Natural  State  —  Intellect  eclipsed  —  Influence 
of  Depravity  on  Mind  —  Conscience  —  Spiritual  Death  —  Good 
News  from  the  North  Pole  —  The  Lost  Found  —  Dead  Alive  — 
Joy  above  and  below 


CHAPTER   XVI.      . 

The  Unjust  Steward  —  The  Children  of  this  Age  —  The  main  Thing 
—  Use  of  Mammon  —  Reception  in  Glory  —  Two  Masters  —  The 
Rich  Man  and  Lazarus  —  Rich  and  Poor  —  Their  Duties  —  Prayer 
to  Saints  — Miracles— Their  Effect 316 


CHAPTER   XVI.   (Contmued.) 

Faithfulness  in  Small  Things  —  Life  made  up  of  Little  Things  — 
Analogies  —  God's  Care  of  Little  Things  —  Life  of  Jesus — St. 
Paul — Toil  —  Preaching  —  National  Greatness    ....    329 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


Oflfences  —  Prayer  for  Faith  —  Miracles  —  Duty  and  Merit  —  Ten 
Lepers  cured  —  Absolution  —  Gratitude  —  Jesus  is  God  —  Active 
Duty  is  Gratitude  —  Tlie  Kingdom  —  Its  Inner  and  its  Outer  As- 
pect—  Christ's  Second  Advent  —  Lot's  Wife        ....    341 


CHAPTER    XVII.   (Continued.) 

Carnal  Expectations  —  The  Coming  Kingdom  —  Not  now  with  Ob- 
ser\- ation  —  No  visible  Throne  yet  —  Growth  of  the  Inner  King- 
dom —  Its  Weapons  —  Approach  —  Forms  —  Trust  —  Badge  — 
One  Day  the  Kingdom  will  come  without  Observation  .        .    351 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

The  Importunate  Widow  —  Faith  at  the  Advent  —  The  Pharisee  and 
Publican  —  Infants  brought  to  Jesus  —  The  young  liuler  —  Wealth 
—  Forsaking  All 360 


CHAPTER   XVIII.   (Continued.) 

The  Blind  Beggar  hears  of  Christ's  Approach  —  His  Appeal  —  Christ 
hears  —  Questions  the  Blind  Man  —  The  Cure,  and  its  Teachings 
—  Spiritual  Darkness      *        » 369 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Zaccheus'  Anxiety  to  see  Christ  —  Pharisee's  Invective  against  Jesus 
—  Hospitality —  The  Confession  of  Zaccheus  —  The  Parable  of  the 
Nobleman  and  his  Servants  —  Responsibility  —  Jesus  seated  on  a 
Colt — Jesus  weeps  —  Jerusalem  —  Its  Fall  —  Its  Eelics       .        .380 


CHAPTER   XIX.    (Continued.) 

The  Blessed  En-and  —  Evil  Conscience  interprets  evilly — Preexist- 
ence  of  Jesus  —  Object  of  his  Mission  —  Peculiarity  of  his  Object 
—  Election  —  Man  Tost  and  rained  —  Evidences  endless  Suffering    390 


CHAPTER   XX. 

Authority  in  Scriptui-e  —  Question  of  Jesus  silences  tlie  Priests  —  The 
Vineyard  —  The  Laborers  maltreat  the  Sen-ants  of  the  Lord  of  the 
Vineyard  —  Judgment  on  the  Guilty  —  The  rejected  Head-stone  — 
Malignant  Attempts  to  ensnare  Jesus  — Cajsar  and  his  Cun-ency 
—  The  Resun-ection  — Strange  Supposition  — David's  Son     .       .     404 


Xil  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

The  Liberality  of  Rich  and  Poor  —  Comparative  V<ih:e  —  A  Living 
Stone  —  Prophecy  and  Josephus  —  Escape  of  Christians  —  De- 
struction of  the  Temple  —  Literal  Fulfilment  of  Prophecy  —  Ma- 
hometanism  —  Mission — Jews 414 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

Christmas  Day  —  Probable  Date  of — Tiie  Passover  —  The  LTpper 
Room  —  The  Supper  —  Meaning  of  Words  —  Titles  —  Peter's  Trial 
and  Christ's  Praj'er — Sword  for  Defence  —  Gethsemane  —  Mental 
Emotion  —  Sleeping  —  Sorrow 425 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

Pilate's  Reluctance  to  Crucify  Jesus  —  His  sending  Him  to  Herod  — 
Herod's  Mockery  —  Pilate's  Vacillation  —  The  Cruelty  and  Fury 
of  the  Mob  —  Jesus  given  up  —  The  Weeping  Retinue  —  Christ 
crucified  —  Darkness  at  Noon  —  The  rent  Vail  —  The  Chapter  a 
Transcript  from  an  Original 435 


CHAPTER   XXIII.   (Continued.) 

Joseph  of  Arimathea  —  Generous  —  Money  not  necessary  to  Generos- 
ity—  Just  —  A  Christian  —  A  Protestant  —  General  Councils  — 
Riches 444 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Early  Visit  to  the  Tomb  —  No  Expectation  of  the  Resurrection  of 
Jesus  —  Impossibility  of  Infidel  Objections  —  Angel  Appearances 
-.-Christ's  Body  as  ours  —  Female  Devotedness  —  The  Meaning 
of  the  Third  Day  —  Disciples  going  to  Emmaias  —  Christ  preaches 
Himself —  Breaking  of  Bread  not  Communion  —  Body  after  Resur- 
rection —  Jesus  ascends,  and  is  worshipped  .        .        .        .        .    454 


CHAPTER    XXIV.    (Continued.) 

Christ  the  Preacher  and  the  Subject  —  Christ's  Reverence  of  the  Bible 
—  The  Old  Testament  Inspired  —  Portrait  of  Jesus  —  A  Divine 
Teacher  —  Sufficiency  of  Scripture  —  Preaching  the  Cross  —  Am- 
bassador and  Priest  —  The  Jew  first 464 


SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 


EXPOSITION   OF   LUKE  I. 

THE  EVANGELIST  LUKE  —  A  niYSICIAN  —  REFERS  TO  OTHER 
WRITERS  —  THIS  GOSPEL  WRITTEN  BY  A  LAYBIAN  —  ADDRESSED 
TO  A  LAYMAN  —  ZACIIARIAS  AND  ELIZABETH  —  BIRTH  OF  JOHN  — 
SONG    OF   ZACIIARIAS. 

I  MAKE  necessarily  a  few  and  very  superficial  remarks 
upon  SO  long  and  interesting  a  chapter. 

The  author  of  this  Gospel,  to  the  reading  and  study  of 
which  we  now  come  in  our  evening  course,  was  Luke,  the 
companion  of  Paul,  called  by  him,  "  the  beloved  physician." 

It  is  purely  a  tradition,  baseless,  and  without  the  least 
foundation  in  fact,  that  Luke  was  a  painter,  or  that  any 
painting,  sacred  or  otherwise,  as  recorded  by  the  Romish 
Church,  the  production  of  his  pencil,  exists  in  any  section  of 
the  Church,  or  in  any  country.  He  was  a  physician,  —  as 
such  he  is  alluded  to  by  Paul.  He  was  the  companion  of 
Paul  in  his  labors,  and  it  is  supposed  —  more  than  supposed, 
it  is  almost  certain  —  that  he  wrote  this  Gospel  under  the 
personal  surveillance  of  St.  Paul,  and  that  it  records  many 
of  those  things  which  Paul  saw  and  recognized  as  most 
precious  and  important,  and  fitted  to  instruct.  Matthew  was 
an  uneducated  and  illiterate  publican,  or  tax-gatherer,  in 
Judea,  inspired  by  the  Spirit  to  record,  in  simple  words,  the 
1 


2  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

gvciit  truths  of  tlie  Gospel.  Mark,  it  is  evident,  was  not  a 
Lliihly  educated  man;  but  Luke,  it  has  been  agreed  by  all, 
was  a  scholar,  with  a  cultivated  mind  and  a  thorough  knoAvl- 
edge  of  general  literature.  Indeed,  it  has  been  justly  said, 
that  the  first  four  verses  of  this  Gospel  are  written  in  the 
purest  Attic  Greek,  and  indicate  the  writing,  not  of  a  Jew, 
whose  Greek  is  full  of  Hebraistic  idioms,  but  the  writing  of 
a  good  scholar  —  a  Gentile,  as  he  is  supposed  to  be,  by  the 
side  of  one  of  liis  parents,  and  accustomed  to  speak  and  use 
the  Greek  tongue.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  rather  strange, 
that  after  the  beautiful  introduction,  the  remainder  of  this 
Gospel  sliould  contain  a  considerable  number  of  Hebraisms, 
and  give  less  evidence  of  i)ure  style  ;  and  that  this  sliould 
sliow  itself  most  when  he  records  the  events  and  discourses 
that  are  the  subject  of  this  Gospel.  Tliis  seems  to  arise 
from  the  fact  that  the  Hebrew,  or  the  Syro-Clialdaic,  was 
the  2:)opular  or  vulgar  tongue,  and  that  he  translated  from 
that  tongue,  in  which  he  heard  them,  the  facts  and  occur- 
rences Avhich  are  here  embodied,  and  which  look  very  like  a 
translation  from  the  original  tongue  in  which  they  were 
uttered.  Tliis  does  not  in  tlie  least  degree  preclude  the 
thought  that  he  was  inspired.  When  God  regenerates  a 
man  he  gives  him  a  new  heart,  but  he  does  not  make  him  a 
totally  different  man  ;  and  when  God  inspired  an  evangelist 
to  write  the  truths  of  his  Gospel,  he  did  not  destroy  that 
man's  personal  feelings,  identity,  or  affections  ;  but  he  in- 
spired him,  so  that  in  the  very  best  words,  all  things  con- 
sidered, he  might  convey  absolute  truth  for  the  benefit  of  all 
generations. 

NoAV  it  would  seem,  from  the  introductory  remarks,  that 
several  had  undertaken  to  record  the  preaching  of  our  Lord, 
and  the  facts  connected  with  his  history.  Luke  does  not 
refer  to  Matthew's,  or  to  Mark's,  or  to  John's  Gospel,  for 
this  last  at  least  was  not  yet  drawn  up,  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  others  were  not  yet  written,  —  the  first  two  could 


LUKE    I.  3 

not  have  been  written  long  before  Luke's,  and  that  of  St. 
John  was  confessedly  written  long  after  the  Gos])cl  of  St. 
Luke.  It  is,  therefore,  evident,  that  beloved  disciples  who 
luid  listened  to  the  preaching  of  Jesus,  and  who  knew  all 
the  truths  connected  with  that  wondrous  biography,  had 
treasured  up  scraps,  fragments,  and  incidental  chapters,  and 
occasional  narratives  of  the  incidents  of  his  life  that  occurred 
to  them  as  being  most  striking,  as  well  as  those  truths  wliich 
he  taught  which  they  thought  to  be  the  most  important. 
They  did  so  of  their  own  freewill,  and  in  their  o^\^l  strength, 
not  by  inspiration  from  God. 

Luke  therefore  says,  addressing  his  introduction  plainly 
to  a  distinguished  nobleman,  because  the  title,  "  Most  excel- 
lent Theophilus,"  was  the  title  given  to  nobles  in  ancient 
times,  and  does  not  denote  j^ersonal,  but  official  or  social  dig- 
nity, —  "  Forasmuch  as  many  have  taken  in  hand  to  set  forth 
in  order  a  declaration  of  those  things  Mdiich  are  most  surely 
believed  among  us,  even  as  they  delivered  tliem  unto  us, 
which  from  the  beginning  were  eye-witnesses,  and  inhiisters 
of  the  Vi^ord ;  it  seemed  good  to  me  also,  having  had  perfect 
understanding  of  all  things  from  the  very  first,  to  write  unto 
thee  in  order,  most  excellent  Theophilus."  The  Gospel  was 
addressed  to  an  individual ;  is  it  meant  for  us  ?  The  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians  is  addressed  to  one  people ;  that  to  tlie 
Ivomans  to  another  people ;  that  to  the  Galatians  to  a  third  ; 
and  yet  they  are  all  meant  for  us.  Because  it  was  addressed 
to  an  individual  it  does  not  therefore  follow  that  the  truths 
contained  in  it  were  not  meant  for  all.  The  addi'css  to 
Theophilus  is  a  sort  of  dedication,  and  no  more,  and  does 
not  imply  that  he  had  any  monopoly,  or  that  his  interest  in 
the  Gospel  can  make  it  less  interesting  or  precious  to  us. 

You  will  naturally  notice  here,  that  it  is  clear  that  the 
Bible  is  meant  to  be  read  and  to  be  studied  by  the  laity. 
Luke  was  neither  a  pharisee,  a  priest,  nor  a  scribe,  but  a 
layman;   and  to  a  layman  also,  as  such,  this  Gospel  wa* 


4  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

addressed ;  and  therefore,  if  any  priest  were  to  say  to  you, 
We  claim  to  read  the  Bible  for  you,  and  inhibit  you  from 
reading  it ;  your  answer  must  be,  —  Because  this  Gospel 
was  written  by  a  layman,  and  was  addressed  to  a  layman, 
laymen,  it  must  be  meant,  are  entitled  to  read  it. 

We  read  at  the  commencement  of  the  history,  that  "  There 
was  in  the  days  of  Herod,  the  king  of  Judaea,  a  certain 
priest  named  Zacharias,  of  the  course  of  Abia  ;  and  his  wife 
was  of  the  daughters  of  Aaron,  and  her  name  was  Eliza- 
beth. And  they  were  both  righteous  before  God ; "  that  is, 
their  character  and  conduct  were  consistent.  Christian,  and 
holy.  And  they  not  only  were  personally  righteous,  but 
"  they  walked  in  all  the  commandments  and  ordinances  of 
the  Lord  blameless;"  in  other  words,  they  were  also  out- 
wardly and  consistently  religious.  There  may  be  morality 
of  a  certain  stamp  without  religion,  but  there  cannot  be 
religion  of  the  true  stamp  without  morality.  We  may  be 
morally  good  from  constitution,  from  conventionalism,  from 
expediency,  from  taste.  But  when  a  man  is  religious  in  the 
sight  of  God,  he  is  moral  because  he  has  a  new  heart,  and 
because  he  instinctively  delights  and  desires  to  observe  all 
God's  commandments,  and  to  walk  in  them  blameless. 

It  was  while  they  were  of  this  character,  and  walking  in 
the  commandments  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord  blameless, 
that,  while  Zacharias  was  executing  his  priestly  office  in 
the  ancient  economy,  and  burning  "  incense  when  he  went 
into  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  —  and  the  whole  multitude  of 
the  people  were  praying  without  at  the  time  of  incense,  — 
there  appeared  unto  him  an  angel  of  the  Lord,  standing  on 
the  right  side ; "  and  the  angel  told  him  —  what  was  glad 
tidings  to  a  Hebrew  father,  and  still  more  to  a  Hebrew 
mother  —  that  his  wife  Elizabeth  should  bear  a  son,  and 
that  that  son's  name  should  be  John,  and  that  he  should 
sustain  a  relationship  to  the  great  Hope  of  Israel  that 
Should  make  him  shine  in  the  reflected  glories  of  the  Mas- 


LUlvK    I.  5 

ter,  and  be  great  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  prove  him- 
self to  be  of  service  and  a  blessing  to  others.  He  states 
that  he  should  go  before  Christ  "  in  the  spirit  and  power  of 
Eli  as."  lie  was  not  Elias  —  John  the  Baptist  was  not 
Elias,  —  Elias  is  still  to  come ;  and  before  the  second  and 
glorious  advent  of  the  Son  of  God  Elijah  the  proi)het  will 
come,  to  herald  in  the  glorious  kingdom  that  shall  never 
have  an  end,  just  as  John  the  Baptist  came,  in  the  spirit  of 
Elias,  to  herald  in  that  suffering  Saviour  who  laid  the  foun- 
dations of  his  kingdom  in  his  own  atonement,  meritorious 
sacrifice,  and  expiatory  death. 

He  then  states  that  the  office  of  John  the  Baptist  should 
be  "  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  children,  and 
the  disobedient  to  the  wisdom  of  the  just;  to  make  ready  a 
people  prepared  for  the  Lord."  Zacharias  doubted;  and, 
not  in  chastisement  or  in  punishment,  but  rather  as  a  sign 
significant  and  expressive  to  his  own  mind,  he  was  struck 
dumb  ;  that  is,  silence  was  imposed  upon  him  —  the  power 
of  speech  was  taken  away  from  him ;  and  when  he  came 
out  the  people  saw  that  something  had  happened,  "  for  he 
beckoned  unto  them  and  remained  speechless." 

After  reading  of  John  the  Baptist  in  these  Avords,  we 
find  that  "  in  the  sixth  month  the  angel  Gabriel  was  sent 
from  God  unto  a  city  of  Galilee,  named  Nazareth,  to  a  vir- 
gin espoused  "  —  not  married,  but  pledged,  dedicated,  de- 
voted, engaged,  but  not  married,  —  "  to  a  man  whose  name 
was  Joseph,  of  the  house  of  David ;  and  the  virgin's  name 
was  Mary."  The  angel  addressed  her  in  words  that  must 
have  sounded  all  mystery  to  her,  —  '•  Hail !  thou  that  art 
highly  favored,  the  Lord  is  with  thee:  blessed  art  tliou 
among  v\'omen."  This  would  not  prove  that  she  ought  to  be 
worshipped ;  but  it  does  assert  that  she  was  and  is  highly 
favored.  The  expression,  "  highly  favored,"  is  applied  to 
believers  in  the  Epistles  —  "  in  whom  we  are  accepted,"  — 
or,  as  it  might  be  translated,  for  it  is  the  same  word, — 
1* 


6  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

"  highly  favored  in  the  beloved."  Then  the  expression, 
"  Blessed  art  thou  among  women,"  which  is  so  often  quoted 
in  order  to  prove  that  Mary  ought  to  be  worshipped  as  the 
queen  of  heaven,  does  not  prove,  nor  in  the  least  degree 
indicate,  any  such  character. 

Our  Lord  says,  "  Blessed  are  the  meek  ;  "  "  Blessed  are 
the  pure  in  heart ; "  "  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn  ; " 
"  Blessed  are  they  that  are  persecuted  for  righteousness* 
sake."  And  if  it  should  be  said  that  she  is  distinctly,  pecu- 
liarly, "  blessed  among  women,"  we  admit  it  is  a  mark  of 
distinguished  honor ;  but  because  she  is  blessed  among 
women,  she  is  not  therefore  to  be  worshipped  as  a  goddess. 
We  find  in  another  part  of  the  Bible  —  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, the  Book  of  Judges  —  that  Jael,  the  wife  of  Heber 
the  Kenite,  had  a  higher  benediction  pronounced  upon  her 
than  Mary ;  for  it  is  said,  "  Blessed  shall  Jael,  the  wife  of 
Heber  the  Kenite,  be  above  women."  Now  then,  this  would 
show  that  if  Mary  should  be  worshipped  as  being  blessed 
among  women,  Jael,  the  wife  of  Heber  the  Kenite,  should 
receive  adoration  also  as  being  blessed  above  women ;  and 
there  is  more  proof  in  favor  of  the  worship  of  Jael,  than 
there  is  in  fovor  of  the  worship  of  the  Virgin  Mary. 

But  because  Mary  is  not  to  be  worshipped,  she  was  not 
the  less  favored  —  she  is  not  the  less  distinguished  and 
blessed  among  women.  And  the  phrase,  "All  generations 
shall  call  me  blessed,"  is  very  properly  retained ;  it  is  very 
proper  to  say,  "  The  Blessed  Virgin  ; "  and  if  I  were  argu- 
ing with  a  Roman  Catholic  I  would  always  use  that  expres- 
sion, for  he  must  not  tliink  that  because  we  do  not  worship 
Mary,  therefore  we  degrade,  despise,  and  disesteem  her; 
and  in  order  to  disabuse  his  mind  of  this  awful  and  atro- 
cious prepossession,  we  would  apply  to  Maiy  every  epithet 
that  Scripture  appropriates  to  her,  and  call  her,  what  we 
may  do  scripturally  and  justly,  "  the  Blessed  Mary,"  or 
"  the  Blessed  Virgin ; "  for  she  herself  gives  a  prophecy  — 


LUKE   I.  7 

a  prophecy  that  is  true,  —  "  All  generations  shall  call  me 
blessed."  Augustine,  the  Latin  father,  says,  "  She  was 
more  blessed  in  believing  on  Jesus  than  in  being  the  mother 
of  Jesus  according*  to  the  flesh  ;  and  our  Lord  himself^  in 
fact,  has  said  so." 

She  was  then  told  that  she  should  conceive,  and  bring 
forth  a  son,  whose  name  should  be  Jesus.  In  the  Gospel 
of  St.  Matthew  we  are  told  that  it  is  because  "  he  shall 
save  his  people  from  their  sins."  And  you  will  notice  that 
the  prophecy  respecting  him  is  quite  distinct  from  that 
respecting  the  son  of  Zacharias.  "  He  shall  be  great,  and 
shall  be  called  "  —  that  is  the  Hebrew  phrase  for  "  he  shall 
be "  —  "  the  Son  of  the  Highest,"  that  is,  the  Son  of 
God ;  —  "  and  the  Lord  God  shall  give  unto  him  the  throne 
of  his  father  David :  and  he  shall  reign  over  the  house  of 
Jacob  for  ever ;  and  of  his  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end." 
Mary,  startled  by  this  extraordinary  prophecy,  as  it  seemed 
contrary  to  all  the  laws  and  all  the  analogies  of  her  mind, 
asked  how  it  could  be  possible  ?  and  the  angel,  in  conde- 
scending kindness,  said  to  her,  "The  Holy  Ghost  shall 
come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Highest  shall  over- 
shadow thee ;  therefore  also  that  holy  thing "  —  that  is, 
Jesus  in  his  humanity  —  should  not  be  an  inheritor  of 
Adam's  sin,  or  participate  in  Adam's  depravity,  but  should 
be  in  this  humanity  that  holy,  spotless,  pure,  and  perfect 
thing,  in  which,  as  in  a  shrine,  the  Son  of  God  should  dwell. 

We  then  read  that  Mary,  with  most  beautiful  simplicity 
and  childlike  confidence,  said,  "  Then  there  is  nothing  more 
to  say.  Let  man  reproach  me,  let  the  world  misconstrue 
me,  let  men  think  what  they  will,  —  be  it  unto  me  according 
to  thy  word." 

Nothing  can  be  more  beautiful  than  the  conduct  of 
Mary  —  nothing  more  worthy  of  our  admiration,  —  and  a 
finer  female  example  and  precedent  does  not  exist  in  the 
whole  inspired  record  than  that  of  the  blessed  Mary. 


8  SCKIPTUUE    HEADINGS. 

Wc  tlien  read  of  the  interview  between  Elizabeth  and 
Mary,  and  Elizabeth  proj^hctically  pronouncing  a  benedic- 
tion upon  her.  Then  we  have  Mary's  most  beautiful 
gong  —  a  song  so  expressive  of  thanksgivuig,  of  sense  of 
sin  and  need  of  a  '  Saviour,  and  of  gratitude,  and  of  joy. 
Zacharias  thus  sings  :  — 

"  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel ;  for  he  hath  visited 
and  redeemed  his  people,  and  hath  raised  up  an  horn  of 
salvation  for  us  in  the  house  of  his  servant  David ;  as  he 
spake  by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  prophets,  which  have  been 
since  the  world  began  :  that  we  should  be  saved  from  our 
enemies,  and  from  the  hand  of  all  that  hate  us ;  to  perform 
the  mercy  promised  to  our  fathers,  and  to  remember  his 
holy  covenant ;  the  oath  which  he  sware  to  our  father 
Abraham,  that  he  would  grant  unto  us,  that  vre  being  deliv- 
ered out  of  the  hand  of  our  enemies  might  serve  him  with- 
out fear,  in  holiness  and  righteousness  beibre  him,  all  the 
days  of  our  life.  And  thou,  child,  shalt  be  called  the  prophet 
of  the  Highest:  for  thou  shalt  go  before  the  face  of  the 
Lord  to  prepare  his  ways ;  to  give  knowledge  of  salvation 
unto  his  people  by  the  remission  of  their  sins,  through  the 
tender  mercy  of  our  God ;  whereby  the  dayspring  from  on 
high  hath  visited  us,  to  give  light  to  them  that  sit  in  dark- 
ness, and  in  the  shadow  of  death,  to  guide  our  feet  into  the 
way  of  peace." 

These  words  seem  almost  the  echo  of  the  ninth  chapter  of 
Isaiah  :  "  Unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given : 
and  the  government  shall  be  upon  his  shoulders  :  and  his 
name  shall  be  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the  mighty 
God,  the  everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace.  Of  the 
increase  of  his  government  and  peace  there  shall  be  no  end, 
upon  the  throne  of  David,  and  upon  his  kingdom,  to  order 
it,  and  to  establish  it  with  judgment  and  with  justice  from 
henceforth  even  for  ever."  And  because  these  words  are 
translated  from  prophecy  into  performance,  Zacharias,  in- 


LUKE    K  9 

spired  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  broke  forth  into  the  hymn 
of  thanksgiving  and  of  praise  which  we  have  just  now  read. 

Zacharias,  who  uttered  these  words,  was  one  of  the  few 
in  the  midst  of  Jerusalem  who  were  waiting  for  redemption 
in  Israel.  Anna,  the  prophetess,  and  Simeon,  the  old  man 
with  one  foot  in  the  grave,  and  Zacharias,  were  three  lights 
in  the  midst  of  darkness,  —  exceptions  to  the  almost  univer- 
sal degeneracy,  believers  in  the  midst  of  skepticism  and  of 
unbehef. 

Zacharias,  as  soon  as  his  tongue  was  untied,  and  he  was 
able  to  express  himself,  praised  God.  You  thus  perceive 
that  we,  too,  after  receiving  mercies,  should  indulge  in 
praise,  —  we,  too,  after  deliverance,  should  not  be  unmindful 
of  God,  the  great  and  ever  present  and  ever  mindful  deliv- 
erer. But  Zacharias  praised  God  less  for  the  physical  benefit 
he  had  received  than  for  the  spiritual  blessing  which  his 
eyes  had  just  seen  and  his  heart  had  just  been  refreshed 
with ;  and  therefore  he  makes  no  mention  of  his  individual 
mercies  in  his  praising  God  for  so  great,  so  unspeakable 
universal  or  general  mercies.  He  begins,  therefore,  his  song 
with  — "  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel ;  for  he  hath 
visited  and  redeemed  his  people."  That  word  "  visited " 
occurs  frequently  in  the  word  of  God.  Joseph  on  his  death- 
bed predicted  that  God  would  visit  his  people,  and  in  the 
Psalms  you  will  frequently  read  of  God  having  visited  his 
people.  You  have  also  the  prayer,  "  Visit  me  with  thy  sal- 
vation, and  with  the  favor  that  thou  bearest  unto  thy  own." 

Zacharias,  having  seen  the  performance  of  this  ancient 
promise,  —  having  beheld  Him  who  is  "  a  light  to  lighten 
the  Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  his  people  Israel,"  —  feeling 
his  ruin  and  the  ruin  of  all  mankind,  and  seeing  in  Christ 
the  restorer,  the  healer,  the  redeemer,  —  breaks  forth  into 
the  antliem  song,  "  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel ; 
for  he  hath  visited  and  redeemed  his  people."  "  Redeemed 
his  people,"  he  says ;  that  word  means  ransom,  restoration, 


10  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

by  the  cross.  Wc  are  of  God's  people,  redeemed,  not  ■with 
gold  or  silver,  or  any  sucli  corruptible  things,  but  with  the 
ju'ecious  blood  of  the  Lamb,  who  is  without  spot  and  without 
blemish.  Christ  is  the  Redeemer  from  the  curse  of  sin,  — 
Irom  the  power,  the  poison,  the  pollution  of  sin :  a  complete 
and  perfect  Redeemer ;  but  a  Redeemer  through  sacrifice, 
by  blood,  at  a  great  price,  —  a  price  without  precedent  and 
without  parallel,  his  own  precious  and  atoning  blood. 

He  hath  also  "  raised  uj)  an  horn  of  salvation  for  us  in 
the  house  of  his  servant  David."  The  horn  is  frequently 
employed  in  the  Psalms,  and  in  the  songs  of  the  saints  of 
old,  to  denote  empire,  or  authority,  or  power.  In  this 
instance  it  may  be  an  allusion  to  the  horns  of  the  altar  — 
the  four  corners' of  the  altar  —  to  flee  to  whicli  was  for  the 
criminal  safety  and  respite,  at  least,  from  punishment  until 
the  judge  should  decide  what  the  guilt  was,  and  what  its 
penalty  should  be.  Jesus  is  the  horn  of  salvation,  and  who- 
ever lays  hold  upon  that  horn — or,  translated  into  familiar 
language,  believeth  on  him  —  shall  never  perish  ;  for  there 
is  no  condemnation  for  that  man  who  holds  fast  by  the  horn 
of  that  altar,  —  who  believes  and  trusts  in  Christ  Jesus.  The 
words  here,  too,  are  emphatic.  It  is  a  horn  of  salvation /b?- 
us:  not  hy  us,  as  if  we  had  any  share  or  merit  in  it;  not  i/i 
us,  as  if  there  were  any  thing  in  us  that  was  a  ground  of 
salvation  or  deliverance,  or  reason  for  interposition ;  but  it 
is  a  horn  of  salvation  foi-  us,  —  nothing  done  hi/  us,  nothing 
done  VI  us,  but  a  great  and  glorious  work  done  /o?'  us.  The 
very  essence  of  Christianity  is  something  done  for  the  crea- 
ture, that  the  creature,  having  that  perfect  thing  done  for 
him,  may  go  forth  to  serve  God  better  than  he  ever  before 
had  done,  loving  him  with  all  his  heart  and  mind  and 
strength. 

This  horn  of  salvation  is  stated  to  be  "  in  the  house  of  his 
servant  David."  Tlie  jMessiah  was  to  be  the  root  and  tlic 
olfspring  of  David.     In  fact,  the  translation  of  tlie  Hebrew 


LUKE    I.  11 

word  David  is  "  beloved,"  and  Jesus  is  often  spoken  of  in 
ancient  prophecy  as  David ;  and  it  was  no  doubt  in  the  pro- 
spective hope  of  this  that  David  said,  "  Though  my  house  be 
not  so  with  God,"  —  that  is,  "  Tiiough  matters  be  not  as  I  wish, 
nor  as  they  should  be," ; —  "  yet  hath  he  made  with  me  an 
everlasting  covenant,  and  this  is  all  my  salvation."  It  was 
in  that  royal  though  faded  house  of  David  that  Jesus  ap- 
peared ;  and  if  he  had  not  so  appeared,  there  would  have 
been  a  failure  of  many  ancient  and  precious  promises,  which 
"  he  spake  by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  prophets,  which  have 
been  since  the  world  began."  In  other  words,  Christ  has 
been  the  burden  of  all  prophecy.  The  first  prophecy  was 
sounded  in  Paradise,  by  God,  the  first  Prophet :  "  The 
woman's  seed  shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head  ;  "  and  that 
prophecy  had  been  expounded,  made  more  minute,  more 
specific,  more  unmistakable  in  its  reference,  gradually,  till 
Christ  came,  of  whom  the  prophe€y  is,  like  the  promise, 
"  yea,  and  amen."  Along,  therefore,  the  corridors  of  time  — 
the  centuries  of  the  world  —  this  precious  promise  has 
sounded,  till  the  dim  and  misty  words  spoken  in  Paradise 
were  translated  into  the  unmistakable  words  announced  by 
Isaiah,  - —  "  Unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given  ; 
and  his  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the 
mighty  God,  the  everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace," 
Zacharias  says  that  the  effect  of  this  Avas  that  "  we  should 
be  saved  from  the  power  of  our  enemies,  and  from  the  hand 
of  them  that  hate  us."  I  do  not  believe  that  Zacharias 
even  thought,  in  his  song,  of  the  Roman  empire,  or  of  our 
merely  temporal  opponents.  The  song  has  one  entire  tone 
of  spirituality,  of  real  Christianity  and  holy  feeling  in  it, 
that  indicates  that  he  who  sang  it  was  inspired  by  the  sensi- 
ble presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  The  enemies  of 
Zacharias  are  our  enemies  still :  Satan,  the  prince  of  the 
powers  of  the  air,  whose  head  the  prophecy  said  would  be 
bruised,  whom  the    Saviour  saw  fall  like  lightning  from 


12  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

heaven,  and  who  at  last  is  to  be  east  into  the  burning  pit 
and  put  away  for  ever  from  teaching  or  tampering  Avith 
mankind,  is  the  one  enemy ;  not  figurative  nor  fanciful,  but 
personal  and  real :  he  goeth  about  like  a  roaring  lion,  seek- 
ing whom  he  may  devour.  It  is  true  of  every  believer,  — 
"  Simon,  Simon,  Satan  hath  desired  to  have  thee,  that  he 
might  sift  thee  as  wheat;"  and  it  is  no  less  true,  —  "I 
have  prayed  that  thy  faith  fail  not."  Before  Satan  tempts, 
Christ  has  prayed ;  Christ  anticipates,  by  his  intercession, 
the  temptation  of  Satan  the  wicked  one. 

Another  enemy  from  whom  we  are  saved  is  sin,  —  saved 
from  its  curse,  saved  from  its  poison,  delivered  from  its 
destructive  tendency,  and  liberated  from  its  predominating 
power.  Its  poison  is  neutralized  and  diluted  day  by  day,  by 
the  Spirit's  influence,  so  that  it  prevails  against  us  less  and 
less,  and  in  Christ's  strength  we  are  ultimately  victors. 

Another  enemy  is  the  world.  The  lust  of  the  eye,  the 
pride  of  life,  and  love  of  the  world,  —  these  are  three 
formidable  divisions  of  it ;  and  who  does  not  know  that  in 
the  charms  and  fascinations,  the  profits  and  pleasures,  the 
gains  and  losses,  the  shame  and  honor,  the  smiles  and 
frowns  of  the  world,  there  are  elements  of  temptation? 
who  does  not  feel  that  these  things  have  power  over  us  ? 
who  has  not  to  lament  that  often  he  has  yielded  to  them  ? 
but  we  arc,  if  believers  in  Jesus,  delivered  from  the  pre- 
vailing power  of  these.  Iniquities  prevail  against  us,  but 
they  shall  not  have  dominion  over  us.  And  we  are  deliv- 
ered from  the  last  enemy,  death.  The  mere  man  of  the 
world  lives  in  bondage,  through  fear  of  death  ;  to  him  death 
is  a  most  terrible  thing :  it  is  to  every  one  an  unnatural 
thing;  no  one  can  court  death,  no  one  can  love  death,  no 
one  can  wish  to  die,  as  dying  ;  but  the  believer  is  prepared 
to  encounter  death  for  the  sake  of  what  lies  beyond,  he  is 
ready  to  stem  the  Avaves  of  Jordan  for  the  sake  of  the 
beautiful  land  which  he  sees  on  the  other  side.     It  is  not 


LUKE    I.  13 

that  he.  loves  dying,  or  that  he  courts  death,  but  the  very  re- 
verse ;  but  that  he  can  encounter  dying,  knowing  that  though 
"  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadoAv  of  death,"  I  will 
not  fear,  as  I  am  sure  that  I  can  encounter  no  evil,  and  for 
this  reason  alone,  "  Thou  art  with  me,  thy  rod  and  thy  staff 
they  comfort  me." 

Once  Paul,  in  enumerating  what  a  Christian  has  before 
him,  says,  —  "  Neither  life  nor  death  shall  separate  us  from 
the  love  of  Christ;"  and  in  another  part  he  says,  "All 
things  are  yours,  life  or  death,  for  ye  are  Christ's,  and  Christ 
is  God's."  Then,  if  we  are  believers,  we  may  praise  God 
that  he  "hath  visited  and  redeemed  his  people,  and  hath 
raised  up  an  horn  of  salvation  for  us  in  the  house  of  his 
servant  David ;  as  he  spake  by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  proph- 
ets, which  have  been  since  the  Avorld  began  ;  that  we  should 
be  saved  from  our  enemies."  And  the  last  enemy  is  death ; 
and  "  thanks  be  to  God  who  giveth  us  the  victory  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 

He  adds,  "  To  perform  the  mercy  promised  to  our  fa- 
thers ;  and  to  remember  his  holy  covenant,"  All  this  is  done 
in  mercy.  Now  mercy  implies  the  absence  of  merit ;  if 
there  be  merit,  then  justice  deals  with  us ;  but  if  there  be 
no  merit,  then  it  is  mercy  dealing  with  us.  Love  is  shown 
to  the  holy  and  the  unfallen.  Mercy  is  love  in  contact  with 
sin,  forgiving  it ;  and  hence,  whatever  God  has  done,  is  in 
mercy,  and  the  covenant  he  offers  to  us  is  that  spoken  of  by 
the  prophet  Jeremiah,  when,  he  says,  "Behold,  the  days 
come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with 
the  house  of  Israel,  and  with  the  house  of  Judah :  not  ac- 
cording to  the  covenant  that  I  made  with  their  fathers  in  the 
day  that  I  took  them  by  the  hand  to  bring  them  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt ;  which  my  covenant  they  brake,  although  I 
was  an  husband  unto  them,  saith  the  Lord  ;  but  this  shall  be 
the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  the  house  of  Israel; 
After  those  days,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will  put  my  law  in  their 

2 


14  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

inward  pai'ls,  {iiul  write  it  in  their  hearts  ;  and  will  be  their 
God,  and  they  siiall  be  my  people.  And  they  shall  teaeli 
no  more  every  man  his  neighbour,  and  every  man  his  broth- 
er, saying,  Know  the  Lord:  for  they  shall  all  know  me, 
from  the  least  of  them  unto  the  greatest  of  them,  saith  the 
Lord :  for  I  will  forgive  their  iniquity,  and  I  will  remember 
their  sin  no  more."  Now  this  is  the  prophecy  that  Zacha- 
rias  well  recollected,  that  Paul  refers  to  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  and  that  every  pious  Jew  felt  the  fulfdment  of  to 
be  the  dayspring  from  on  high,  the  great  and  blessed  ac- 
complishment of  God's  great  and  precious  promises. 

Then  he  adds  also,  remembering  not  only  this  covenant, 
but  remembering  "  the  oath  which  he  sware  to  our  father 
Abraham."  "What  oath  was  it  that  he  remembered  ?  The 
oath  made  in  the  22d  chapter  of  Genesis,  at  the  IGth  verse, 
where  the  Lord  saith,  "  By  myself  have  I  sworn,  saith  the 
Lord,  for  because  thou  hast  done  this  thing,  and  hast  not 
withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son;  that  in  blessing  I  will 
bless  thee,  and  in  multiplying  I  -svill  multi}Tly  thy  seed  as 
the  stars  of  the  heaven,  and  as  the  sand  which  is  upon  the 
sea-shore."  Now  that  promise,  the  apostle  says,  was  made, 
(or  that  oath)  "  not  unto  seeds,  as  of  many ;  but  unto  one 
seed,  as  Christ ; "  and  that  promise  made  to  Abraham  is 
realized  in  Christ,  and  in  all  the  true  children  of  Abraham, 
who  are  children  according  to  the  Spirit,  not  according  to 
the  flesh.  Hence  this  pious  saint,  at  the  dawn  of  the  Chris- 
tian day,  fell  back  upon  the  ancient  covenant  of  God;  and 
wdien  he  had  heard  God's  word,  how  his  heart  hung  upon 
the  promises  of  God,  and  how  he  asked  for  that  promise  of 
God  to  be  realized  wdiere  he  should  grant  "  that  w^e  being 
delivered  from  the  liand  gf  all  that  hate  us,"  —  how  beauti- 
ful is  that !  delivered  from  sin,  Satan,  the  world,  and  death  ! 
—  not  for  selfish  enjoyment,  not  for  monkish  abstraction  or 
seclusion,  but  for  active  usefulness,  —  that  we  being  deliver- 
ed from,  the  hand  of  our  enemies  might,  —  What  ?     Not  sit 


LUKE    I.  15 

Still,  but  "  serve  him  "  "  in  holiness  and  righteousness  before 
him  all  the  days  of  our  life."  We  are  delivered  from  behig 
slaves,  raised  to  the  dignity  of  sons,  in  order  that  we  may 
the  more  thoroughly  and  heartily  serve  Him  Avho  has  i-an- 
somed  us  by  his  own  blood,  and  made  us  kings  and  priests 
unto  God. 

And  Zacharias  evidently  regarded  this  service,  not  as 
laborious  ;  he  does  not  look  upon  it  as  a  hard  duty ;  but  he 
makes  it  matter  of  thanksgiving  to  God,  that  he  had  made 
it  his  privilege  to  serve  him.  To  the  Christian,  all  God's 
commands  are  not  grievous,  his  service  is  perfect  freedom. 
He  regarded  the  opportunity  of  serving  God  as  a  subject  of 
thanksgiving,  and  rejoiced  that  there  was  before  him  an 
opportunity  of  serving  God  in  holiness  and  in  righteousness. 

And  that,  "in  holiness  and  in  righteousness,"  is  also  very 
expressive.  Zacharias  evidently  saw  beyond  the  ritual  and 
rubrics  of  his  day  —  serve  him,  not  in  form  and  ceremony, 
but "  in  holiness  and  in  righteousness  all  the  days  of  our  life," 
that  is,  for  ever. 

Then  he  addresses  the  infant  Baptist,  and  says  to  John, 
"  Thou,  child,"  that  is,  his  own  son,  "  shalt  be  called  the 
Prophet  of  the  Highest ;  for  thou  shalt  go  before  the  foce 
of  the  Lord  to  prepare  his  ways."  You  have  here  the  child 
addressed  by  his  father,  and  the  prophecy  of  his  dignity  in 
these  words,  that  "  he  should  go  before  the  face  of  the  Lord 
to  prepare  his  ways."  Look  at  John's  position,  not  to  take 
the  place  of  the  Highest,  not  to  supersede  or  overshadow  the 
Lord,  but  to  go  before  him  ;  to  preach,  not  himself,  but  Christ 
—  and  himself  Christ's  messenger  for  our  sakes.  There  is 
the  position  of  the  minister  of  the  Gospel,  not  to  put  himself 
in  Christ's  room,  but  to  go  before  Christ's  face  "  to  prepare 
his  ways  ;  to  give  knowledge  of  salvation  unto  his  people  by 
the  remission  of  their  sins."  Mark,  if  I  may  use  the  expres- 
sion, the  gradient  of  his  force  —  not  to  give  salvation  ;  John 
had  no  power  to  do  so  —  but  to  give  knowledge  of  salvation. 


16  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

No  priest,  nor  prelate,  nor  minister  upon  earth  can  give  sal- 
vation, but  the  feeblest  believer  may  tell  the  ignorant  what 
salvation  is,  where  salvation  is,  and  how  it  may  be  obtained 
fully  and  freely,  without  money  and  without  price.  And  to 
give  the  knowledge  of  salvation  of  what  sort  ?  jNIark,  the 
salvation  promised  was  the  remission  of  sins.  Here  is  the 
doctrine  of  reserve,  as  the  Tractarians  preach  the  remission 
of  sins  to  be.  They  say  that  this  doctrine  is  esoteric  ;  that  is, 
a  mysterious  doctrine  which  ought  only  to  be  made  known 
to  the  initiated  ;  but  Zacharias,  speaking  of  the  Baptist,  says, 
that  the  very  essence  of  the  salvation  which  he  should  make 
known,  was  "  the  remission  of  sins."  And  the  Apostle  Paul 
says,  "I  first  of  all  declared  to  you  that  Christ  died  for 
us,"  etc.  Instead  of  being  a  doctrine  subordinate,  it  is  a 
doctrine  superlative ;  instead  of  being  a  doctrine  of  reserve, 
it  is  a  prominent  doctrine ;  instead  of  being  a  doctrine  to  be 
kept  in  the  background,  it  is  the  one  that  takes  the  lead. 
Salvation  without  sacrifice  is  impossible ;  and  salvation  that 
does  not  embosom  remission  of  sin,  would  be  of  no  use. 
Blessed  be  God  that  we  have  a  salvation,  whose  whole  sum 
and  substance  is  the  remission  of  sin. 

And  then  he  adds,  too,  "  Through  the  tender  mercy  of  our 
God,"  (remember  that  mercy  again,)  "whereby  the  day- 
spi-ing  from  on  high  hath  visited  us."  What  a  beautiful 
picture  is  that  of  dawning  Christianity,  "  Whereby  the  day- 
spring  from  on  high  liath  visited  us ; "  that  is  to  say,  this 
Sun  of  Righteousness,  who  had  just  emerged  from  the  hori- 
zon, was  shedding  his  slanting  or  level  rays  along,  and  gild- 
ing the  hills  and  mountains  of  Palestine.  And  that  dayspring 
began  to  send  forth  its  earliest  beams  when  Simeon  took 
the  child  in  his  arms,  and  said, "  Now,  Lord,  lettest  thou  thy 
servant  depart  in  peace,  according  to  thy  word,  for  mine 
eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation,  whicji  thou  hast  prepared  be- 
fore the  face  of  all  people ;  a  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles, 
and  the  glory  of  thy  people  Israel."     That  Sun  is  rising 


LUKE    I.  17 

gradually  above  the  horizon;  he  lias  not  yet  attained  his 
meridian,  his  noon  shall  be  when  he  shall  come  again,  and 
shine  upon  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  which  shall  be 
the  abode  of  a  people  new  in  spirit,  and  new  in  body,  when 
all  things  shall  be  made  new.  At  present  the  beams  of  tliat 
Sun  are  horizontal,  and  every  object  has  a  long  shadow  pro- 
jected from  it,  every  truth  is  placed  in  the  midst  of  thick 
darkness.  But  when  he  comes  again,  liis  rays  will  be  ver- 
tical. You  know,  when  the  sun  is  at  noon,  there  is  no  shad- 
ow, but  his  rays  fall  vertically.  What  a  blessed  day,  when 
truth  shall  have  no  shadow,  when  every  doctrine  shall  have  no 
shadow,  when  there  shall  be  no  disputes  ;  but  we  shall  see  as 
we  are  seen,  —  no  more  as  in  a  glass,  darkly,  but  face  to  face  ! 

We  thank  God  for  the  dayspring,  we  thank  God  for  the 
brightening  intensity  of  his  beams,  and  we  will  pray  to  him, 
while  we  thank  him,  "  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly." 
What  a  clear  view  this  Christian  living  in  the  twilight  had  — 
for  this  was  a  Christian  in  the  twilight ;  mark  what  clear 
perceptions  this  Christian  had  of  our  blessed  Lord.  First, 
he  regarded  him  as  the  Redeemer  —  "  For  he  hath  visited 
and  redeemed  his  people  "  —  next,  as  a  horn  of  salvation  — 
"  And  hath  raised  up  an  horn  of  salvation  for  ns  in  the  house 
of  his  servant  David"  —  next,  as  the  subject  of  prophecy  — 
"As  he  spake  by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  prophets,  which 
have  been  since  the  world  began "  —  next  as  the  perform- 
ance of  mercies  long  promised,  '•  to  our  fathers  "  —  next,  as 
the  deliverer  "from  the  hand  of  our  enemies"  —  next,  as 
the  author  of  a  salvation,  of  which  the  first  characteristic  is 
"  the  remission  of  our  sins  "  —  next,  as  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness, "  to  give  light  to  them  that  sit  in  darkness,  and  in  the 
shadow  of  death." 

It  would  be  interesting  to  compare  the  song  of  Simeon 
and  the  song  of  Zacharias,  for  in  both  there  is  one  key-note, 
and  only  one  ;  and  in  both  you  will  see  how  low  the  creature 
is  laid,  and  how  high  the  Redeemer  is  placed  with  regard  to 

2  *    . 


18  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

liim.  You  will  notice  in  both  songs  that  the  creature  is  sin- 
ful, and  fallen,  surrounded  by  enemies,  walking  in  darkness, 
and  in  the  shadow  of  death,  without  a  horn  of  salvation  to 
lay  hold  by,  or  any  liope ;  cold,  bhnd,  naked,  miserable,  and 
perishing ;  ,and  Christ  bursting  upon  the  world,  which  de- 
served not  the  blessing,  with  the  dayspring  from  on  high 
to  visit  us. 

Have  we  an  apprehension  of  Christ  as  clear  as  that  Zach- 
arias  had  ?  With  more  light,  have  we  as  clear  views  ? 
And  have  we  not  only  views  clear  in  our  heads,  but  have 
we  them  real,  deep,  growing  in  our  hearts  ?  Can  we  sing 
Simeon's  song  ?  Can  we  use  the  praise  of  Zacharias  ? 
Can  we  add  our  Amen  to  their  testimony,  the  Amen  of  the 
heart  and  the  lip,  as  of  the  head  ?  And  if  we  have  tasted 
that  the  Lord  is  gracious,  do  we,  too,  not  keep  silence,  but 
avail  ourselves  of  every  means  and  opportunity  of  making 
knoAvn  what  he  is  to  us,  and  what  he  hath  made  us  ?  "  Come, 
all  ye  that  fear  God,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  he  hath  done 
for  my  soul."  When  the  heart  is  full,  the  lips  will  not  be 
silent ;  and  when  the  lips  are  silent,  the  hands  will  only  do 
with  greater  energy  and  greater  sjjeed,  the  work  that  belongs 
to  them. 

Here  we  have  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy,  "  A  virgin 
shall  conceive  and  bear  a  son,  and  his  name  shall  be,  the 
Wonderful,  the  Counsellor,  the  Mighty  God,  the  everlasting 
Father." 

Glorious  truth  !  A  portion  of  our  humanity  is  now  amidst 
the  light,  the  splendour,  and  the  glory  of  heaven  —  a  first- 
fruits  now  before  the  throne,  a  pledge  and  an  earnest  to  all 
that  believe,  that  this  mortal  shall  put  on  immortality,  this 
corruptible  incorruptibihty,  and  death  shall  be  swallowed  up 
in  victory ! 

Bles-sed  truth,  too,  that  this  nature  which  we  lost  in  Adam 
has  been  restored,  reinstated,  glorified  in  Christ!  And 
blessed  thought,  likewise,  that  He  who  was  born  of  a  virgin 
—  whose  life  was  that  of  the  Man  of  sorro\YS  —  whose  death 


LUKE    I.  19 

was  without  precedent  and  without  price  —  that  He  is  God 
our  Saviour,  our  Atonement,  our  Sacrifice ;  through  whom 
we  have  access  to  God,  and  by  whom,  as  the  mercy-seat, 
God  comes  down  to  us,  and  visits  us,  and  becomes  our  sal- 
vation. 


Note.  —  Theophilus  had  then  been  orally  instructed  in  the  nan-a- 
tives  which  foi-m  the  subject  of  this  Gospel ;  and  Luke's  intention  in 
writing  it  is  that  wc  might  have  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  tliUsc 
histories.  —  Karrixfidi]q,  literally  "catechized,"  " catechetically  taught." 
—  loyuv  is  not  to  be  rendered  "  things  ;  "  neither  it,  nor  /i^/za,  nor  IlIT 
ever  have  this  meaning,  as  is  commonly  but  erroneously  supposed. 
In  all  the  commonly  cited  examples  of  this,  "things  expressed  in 
Avords  "  are  meant :  here,  "  the  histories,"  accounts.  See  Prologue  to 
the  Gospels,  i.  3. 

[11.]  The  altar  of  incense  (Exod.  xxx.  1)  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  large  altar  of  burnt-offering  that  stood  outside  the  holy  place 
in  the  court  of  the  priests.  It  was  during  the  sacrifice  on  the  great 
altar  that  the  daily  burning  of  the  incense  took  place  :  one  of  the  two 
priests  whose  lot  it  was  to  offer  incense,  bi'ought  fire  from  the  altar  of 
burnt-offering  to  the  altar  of  incense,  and  then  left  the  priest  alone, 
who,  on  a  signal  from  the  priest  presiding  at  the  sacrifice,  kindled  the 
incense.     (See  Exod.  xl.  5,  26.) 

[4G-55.1  Compare  throughout  the  song  of  Hannah  (1  Sam.  ii. 
1-lQ).  As  connected  with  the  defence  of  the  hymns  contained  in 
these  two  chapters,  Ave  may  observe,  taking  the  lowest  ground,  that 
there  is  nothing  improbable  in  matter-of-fact,  in  holy  pei-sons,  full  of 
the  thoughts  which  permeate  the  Old  Testament  prophecies,  breaking 
out  into  such  songs  of  praise  as  these,  Avhich  are  grounded  on,  and  al- 
most expressed  in,  the  words  of  Scripture.  (See  Dr.  INIill,  Historical 
Character  of  Luke  i.  vindicated,  p.  40,  ff.)  The  Christian  believer, 
however,  will  take  a  higher  vicAV  than  this,  and  attribute  to  the  mother 
of  the  Lord  that  same  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  filled 
Elizabeth  (verse  41)  and  Zachariah  (verse  67). 

[80.]  The  bpeivfj  of  Judea  was  very  near  this  wilderness,  and  from 
the  character  of  John's  official  life  afterwards,  it  is  probable  that  in 
youth  he  woidd  be  given  to  solitude  and  abstemiousness.  It  cannot  be 
supposed  Essenes  dwelling  in  those  parts  had  any,  or  only  the  most 
general  kind  of  influence  over  him,  as  their  views  were  wholly  different 
from  his.  —  Alford.  •* 


CHAPTER    II. 

PKOPIIECY  FULFILLED  —  TAXING  A  DIFFICULTY  —  MANGER  — SHEP- 

ItEKD     VIGILS CHRISTMAS     IN    APRIL  —  MARY'S     KEEPING     AND 

PONDERING    THESE  THINGS MARy's  OFFERING SIMEON'S  SONG 

—  JESUS  GREW  IN  STATURE — HIS  FATHER'S  BUSINESS. 

There  is  an  ancient  prophecy  contained  in  the  book  of 
Micah  the  prophet,  which  has  its  fulfilment,  and  is  recorded 
in  the  history  written  by  St.  Luke,  in  this  chapter ;  and 
which  the  decree  of  Caesar  Augustus  was  the  means  of  ful- 
filling. It  was  predicted  many  hundred  years  before,  "  And 
thou,  Bethlehem  Ephratah,  though  thou  be  little  among  the 
thousands  of  Judah,  yet  out  of  thee  shall  he  come  forth  unto 
me  that  is  to  be  ruler  in  Israel ;  whose  goings  forth  have 
been  from  of  old,  from  everlasting."  Now,  Joseph  and 
Mary  were  not  at  the  place  predicted  to  be  the  birthplace 
of  Jesus,  when  this  decree  went  forth  from  Ciiesar  Augustus 
the  Roman  emperor,  to  whose  empire  Judnsa  did  belong  ; 
and  this  decree  orighiatcd  their  leaving  the  place  Avliere  they 
were,  namely,  Galilee,  and  going  to  Bethlehem,  there,  in  the 
language  of  the  passage,  "  to  be  taxed."  Now,  let  me  ex- 
plain, that  the  word  here  translated  "  taxed,"  means  prop- 
erly "  enrolled  ; "  it  does  not  mean  that  they  went  up  to  pay 
money,  but  simply  to  have  their  names  enrolled  in  the  reg- 
isters of  their  tribe,  that  it  might  be  known  by  that  census 
what  was  the  strength,  and  how  great  was  the  population  of 
tliat  portion  of  the  empire.  This  decree  Avas  first  made,  we 
are  told,  "  when  Cyrenius  was  governor  of  Syria."  This  has 
extremely  puzzled   critics.^  It  has   been   ascertained    that 

(20) 


LUKE    II.  21 

Cyrenius  did  not  actually  become  governor  till  fifteen  years 
afterwards ;  but  it  has  been  suj^posed  that  the  expression, 
"  first  made  Avhen  Cyrenius  was  governor  of  Syjia,"  is  allud- 
ing to  Cyrenius  by  the  name  and  relationship  that  he  sub- 
sequently succeeded  to,  that  it  was  made  fifteen  years  be- 
fore he  was  governor,  but  made  simply  in  connection  with 
him  as  a  ruler,  or  as  an  ofiicial,  occupying  a  responsible 
position,  and  in  that  province  or  elsewhere  at  that  time. 
Alford,  in  a  magnificent  critical  edition  of  the  Greek  Testa- 
ment, has  discussed  the  question  at  great  length  ;  and,  whilst 
he  admits  the  difficulty,  he  thinks  that  this  is  the  nearest 
possible  solution.  Some  critics,  however,  have  gone  so  far 
as  to  say  that  the  second  verse  is  an  interpolation,  that  it  is 
not  in  the  original ;  but  I  do  not  think  that  we  should  be 
justified  in  coming  to  that  conclusion  from  any  difficulty  that 
may  arise  in  its  interpretation,  since  all  the  ancient  manu- 
scripts have  the  text,  and  it  was  never  doubted  or  disputed 
till  this  difficulty  was  first  brought  to  light. 

Well,  in  order  that  each  individual  might  be  enrolled,  they 
went  "  every  one  into  his  own  city."  Joseph  went  up  ac- 
cordingly, from  Galilee  to  the  city  of  Bethlehem,  "  be<3ause 
he  was  of  the  house  and  lineage  of  David :  to  be  taxed  with 
Mary,  his  espoused  wife."  And  in  that  place  Jesus  was 
born ;  the  prophecy  of  Micah  was  fulfilled  through  the  in- 
strumentality of  Augustus  Cfesar.  Princes  do  not  originate, 
they  only  execute ;  they  are  not  the  sculptors,  they  are  only 
the  chisels  in  the  Great  Sculptor's  hands ;  unconsciously 
they  fulfil  his  behests ;  and  the  pages  of  history  record  the 
prophecies  of  the  God  of  wisdom,  of  love,  and  of  truth. 

When  Jesus  was  born,  we  read  that  he  was  laid  in  "  a 
manger,  because  there  was  no  room  for  them  in  the  inn." 
Now,  that  must  seem  absurd  to  a  person  who  concludes  that 
Jesus  was  actually  laid  in  a  manger ;  for  there  is  no  reason, 
and  it  could  be  no  reason  for  being  laid  in  a  manger  because 
there  was  no  room  in  the  inn.     Tlie  truth  is,  that  the  word 


22  SCKIPTURE    READINGS. 

ought  to  be  translated  "  barn,"  or  "  stable  ; "  and  it  means 
that  JesiH  was  laid  in  the  barn,  the  outhouse,  or  the  .stable, 
because  there,  was  no  room  in  the  inn ;  the  people  were  go- 
ing from  the  distant  provinces  up  to  their  respective  villages 
to  be  enrolled ;  and  a  great  many  strangers  being  present  in 
Bethlehem,  every  spare  room  in  the  caravanserai  —  for  it 
was  that  rather  than  an  inn  —  every  spare  room  in  the  car- 
avanserai was  occupied ;  and  Jesus  was  laid  in  a  spare  place 
in  which  the  cattle  fed :  the  Eastern  horses  are  so  domesti- 
cated and  so  tame,  that  the  keeper,  or  the  Arab,  or  Bedouin, 
may  and  does  sleep  with  them  without  any  danger.  But 
mark  this,  the  Lord  of  Glory,  that  stretched  out  the  firma- 
ment, could  find  no  room  in  an  inn  !  He  that  made  tlie 
world  could  not  find  a  place  in  it  whereon  to  lie,  worthy  of 
his  greatness,  his  dignity,  his  power !  What  traces  of  humil- 
iation are  here !  What  lights  and  indices  are  here  of  his 
moral  and  exalted  glory  ! 

"  There  were  shepherds,"  it  is  said,  in  the  country,  "  abid 
ing  in  the  field,  keeping  watch  over  their  flock  by  night." 
Kow  it  has  been  argued  from  this  alone  that  Jesus  was  born 
about  Easter ;  I  do  not  say  that  this  is  the  only  reason,  but 
it  is  not  likely  that  shepherds  in  Palestine  would  be  out  all 
night  upon  the  fields ;  the  grass  is  not  then  sufficient,  the 
fields  are  not  fitted  for  the  pasturing  of  sheep  at  that  season, 
and  it  seems  unlikely  that  the  shepherds  would  be  out  on  a 
cold  and  frosty  night  of  December  or  of  January.  And 
from  this,  and  not  from  this  only,  but  from  a  variety  of  rea- 
sons which  have  been  discussed  at  very  great  length,  it  has 
been  proved  to  demonstration  that  what  we  call  Christmas  is 
not  the  birthday  of  our  Lord,  but  that  the  real  birthday  is 
somewhere  about  April,  and  that  Good-Friday  is  much  near- 
er being  the  birthday  of  our  Lord  than  what  we  call  Christ- 
mas day.  I  do  not  say  that  it  is  of  any  very  great  conse- 
quence ;  but  it  teaches  us  this,  that  all  tliat  is  insignificant  in 
the  history  of  Jesus  is  left  in  an  obscurity,  from  which  we 


LUKE    II.  23 

cannot  withdraw  it :  while  all  that  is  profitable  and  instruc- 
tive is  luminous  and  clear  as  the  light  of  noonday.  And  one 
is  almost  pained  at  the  recollection  that  in  ancient  days,  the 
question  whether  Easter  should  be  celebrated  on  a  Sunday, 
or  celebrated  on  a  Aveekday,  was  a  discussion  that  rent 
Christendom  to  pieces ;  and  while  humbled  at  the  recollec- 
tion of  that,  we  should  be  none  the  less  humbled  at  one's  ex- 
perience of  modern  times,  where  Christians  often  seem  to 
quarrel  with  a  violence  and  an  intensity  proportionate  to  the 
insignificance  of  the  matters  about  which  they  are  quarrel- 
ling. 

An  angel  appeared  to  these  shepherds,  and  said,  "  Fear 
not :  for,  behold,  I  bring  you  good  tidings  of  great  joy ; " 
literally,  "  I  preach  the  Gospel  to  you,  and  these  good  tid- 
ings shall  not  be  only  to  you,  or  only  to  the  Jews  ;  the  orig- 
inid  sounds  shall  be  heard  in  Palestine,  the  echoes  and  re- 
verberations of  them  shall  roll  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  universe  itself,  '  for  unto  you  is  born  this  day 
in  the  city  of  David,'  "  —  that  is,  Bethlehem ;  how  remark- 
able are  the  Avords  that  folloAV,  applied  to  an  aj^parently  help- 
less babe !  —  "a  Saviour,  which  is  the  Messiah  Jehovah," 
for  that  is  the  meaning,  —  "a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the 
Lord.  And  this  shall  be  a  sign  unto  you ;  Ye  shall  find  the 
babe  Avrapped  in  swaddling-clothes,  lying  in  a  manger,"  in 
a  barn,  or  in  a  stable.  And  then,  suddenly,  there  was  a 
choir  heard  from  the  skies,  pealing  sweet  music  upon  the 
ears  of  them  that  Avaited  for  redemption  in  Israel.  Noav, 
from  that  babe,  so  unnoticed  and  unknown,  and  despised  and 
rejected  by  mankind,  there  shall  arise  glory  to  God  in  the 
very  highest  — the  intensest  glory  —  there  shall  spread  on 
earth,  deep  and  Avide,  peace ;  and  there  is  exhibited  in  it 
that  good-Avill  to  men,  Avhich  is  otherwise  expressed  by  the 
text,  "  God  so  loA^ed  the  AA^orld,"  God  had  such  good-Avill  to 
the  world  "  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whoso- 
ever believeth  on  him  might  not  perish,  but  have  eternal 
Ufe." 


24  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

The  shepherds  were  too  much  amazed  at  the  glorious  tid- 
ings to  remain  where  they  were ;  they  said,  "  Let  us  now  go 
even  unto  Bethlehem,  and  see  this  thing  which  is  come  to 
pass,  which  the  Lord  hath  made  known  unto  us."  Let  us 
catch  a  precedent  from  them ;  wherever  we  hear  the  truth 
is,  let  us  go  and  seek  it ;  be  not  satisfied  with  hearing,  go  and 
investigate,  and  the  issue  Ave  know  will  be  good. 

The  same  day,  we  read,  "  they  came  with  haste,  and  found 
Mary  and  Joseph,  and  the  babe  lying  in  the  manger."  And 
then  they  went  and  told  it  abroad  —  made  known  all  these 
good  things.  And  in  the  19  th  verse,  mark  what  is  said, 
"  Mary,"  a  specimen  of  simple,  beautiful,  retiring  religion ; 
one  who  had  a  faith  that  faltered  not  in  the  worst,  and  wea- 
ried not  in  the  best  of  times ;  one  who  was  every  tiling  that 
we  can  say  of  the  highest  Christian,  but  with  nothing  that 
would  mark  her  for  the  degradation  of  being  worshipped  as 
a  goddess,  instead  of  being  regarded  as  a  pious,  holy,  spirit- 
ually minded  Christian  mother,  — "  Mary  kept  all  these 
things,"  what  we  read  of  in  the  first  chapter,  all  the  marvel- 
lous incidents,  the  strange  sights,  the  music  of  the  heavenly 
choirs,  the  shepherds  and  the  magi  coming  to  worship,  and 
to  give  incense,  —  she  kept  these  things,  they  were  too  re- 
mai-kable  to  be  forgotten  ;  she  not  only  kept  in  her  memory, 
but  she  did  what  we  also  should  do,  "  pondered  them  in  her 
heart." 

I  noticed,  when  I  addressed  you  upon  the  refrain  ;  "  My 
soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord,  and  my  spirit  hath  rejoiced  in 
God  my  Saviour ;  for  he  hath  regarded  the  low  estate  of  his 
handmaiden;  for  behold  from  henceforth  all  generations 
shall  call  me  blessed  ;  for  He  that  is  mighty  hath  done  to  me 
great  things ;  and  holy  is  his  name ; "  that  Protestants  are 
not  justly  chargeable  with  showing  disrespect  to  the  memory 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  that,  thougli  we  are  not  prepared 
to  join  with  the  Church  of  Rome  in  giving  her  homage, 
wliich  we  believe  to  be  absolute  idolatry,  we  do  not  hesitate 


LUKE    II.  25 

to  call  lier,  as  the  prophecy  says  she  should  be  called,  "  bless- 
ed ; "  nor  do  we  hesitate  to  set  her  forth,  as  far  as  she  fol- 
lowed our  blessed  Master,  as  a  beautiful  precedent  for  every 
mother  in.  Israel,  as  a  flower  of  female  piety  and  a  vital 
specimen  of  motherly  virtue.  I  do  not  know  a  character  in 
the  whole  New  Testament  more  beautiful  than  Mary's.  I 
do  not  know  an  example  fitter  for  every  woman  to  follow ; 
her  silence,  where  silence  seemed  to  be  dutiful,  —  except  in 
one  instance,  —  her  thankfulness,  which  betokened  a  deep 
sense  of  distinguishing  mercies,  her  deep  interest  in  Jesus, 
her  mysterious  —  her  almost,  at  times,  awful  sympathy  wath 
him,  indicates  that  she  had  a  mind  for,  far  more  enlightened 
than  the  generation  of  which  she  was  a  part ;  and,  though 
not  immaculate,  as  a  foolish  priest  would  make  her,  yet  she 
was  a  sinner  saved  by  the  cross,  and  made  a  living  epistle, 
written  not  with  pen  and  ink,  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
seen  and  looked  upon  by  all  believers. 

There  is  something  very  remarkable  and  beautiful  in  these 
words.  No  elevation,  no  exaltation,  nothing  that  intimated 
a  mere  earthly  carnal  sense  of  sudden  dignity,  breaking 
forth  in  sudden  transport ;  but  a  quiet,  meditative  study  of 
all  that  had  transpired ;  and  in  her  own  secret  and  seques- 
tered moments  keeping  things  that  the  world  knew  not,  and 
some 'things  that  she  herself  could  not  fully  comprehend; 
and,  like  a  true  Christian,  pondering  them  in  her  heart,  till 
she  could  clearly  comprehend  them  with  her  intellect,  and 
know  even  as  she  was  known. 

Now,  some  of  those  things  which  Mary  must  have  ponder- 
ed in  her  heart,  were  the  startling  revelations  that  were 
made  to  her,  the  echoes  of  which  must  have  kept  ringing  in 
her  memory.  There  w^as,  for  instance,  that  great  prophecy 
of  Simeon ;  "  A  sword  shall  pierce  thine  ow^n  heart  also,"  — 
this  child  is  no  ordinary  child,  he  is  "  set  for  the  raising  and 
falling  of  many  in  Israel."  When  she  heard  that,  and  heard 
the  salutation  of  the  angel,  and  then  remembered  ancient 
3 


26  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

prophecies  clearly  budding  into  fullilment  in  that  babe  that 
lay  upon  her  breast,  she  looked  wistfully  at  that  mysterious 
face,  that  infiint,  and  yet  the  Almighty ;  and  sometimes  per- 
plexed —  sometimes  upheld,  —  sometimes  fearing,  oftener 
hoping,  occasionally  rejoicing,  she  ke^Tt  those  things  and 
pondered  them  in  her  heart. 

No  doubt,  among  other  things  that  occurred  to  her,  that 
she  pondered  in  her  heart,  were  some  of  a  peculiarly  Jewish 
and  national  character.  She  thought ;  If  this  be  the  Mes- 
siah, —  and  she  Avas  sure  that  he  Avas  so  —  then  there  was 
deliverance  for  her  people,  for  her  beloved  Israel;  for 
every  Jewish  woman  was  a  patriot,  every  Jewish  mother 
longed  to  contribute  to  the  emancipation  of  the  land  of  her 
people  from  the  iron  tyranny  that  ground  it  to  the  very  dust 
under  the  sceptre  of  the  Caesars.  And  when  she  saw  this 
child,  and  remembered  that  the  Messiah  was  to  be  the  deliv- 
erer of  Israel,  and  connected  it  with  Simeon's  prophecy,  that 
he  should  be  "  a  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles,  and  the  glory 
of  God's  people  Israel ; "  and  when  she  thought  that  tlie  scep- 
tre should  not  depart  from  Judah  until  the  Messiah  should 
come  ;  she  saw  sweetly  reposing  in  her  lap  the  light  to  light- 
en the  world,  the  glory  of  Israel,  the  first  bright  beam  of  that 
day  whose  glory  should  cover  the  land,  and  all  the  earth 
should  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  as  the  wa- 
ters cover  the  channels  of  the  deep. 

No  doubt  Mary  thought  also  of  the  interesting  fact,  that 
must  have  startled  every  Jew  when  he  heard  it,  that  the 
Messiah, "  the  glory  of  Israel,"  should  also  be  a  "  light  to  lighfien 
the  Gentiles."  The  Jcavs  had  turned  their  peculiar  privi- 
leges into  intense  sectarianism.  God  had  surrounded  them  as 
a  nation  with  peculiar  privileges,  not  that  they  might  Avorship 
those  privileges,  or  selfishly  refuse  them  to  others ;  but  in- 
stead of  being  thankful  to  God,  and  enjoying  and  properly 
using  their  privileges,  —  they  became  proud  of  them  and 
jealous  of  their  participation ;  and  the  very  idea  of  a  general 


LUKE    II.  27 

possession  of  them  by  other  nations  was  intolerable  —  tlie 
very  thought  that  the  blessing  which  they  had,  should  be  dilut- 
ed by  spreading  among  the  Gentiles,  was  insufferable ;  they 
could  not  understand,  that  with  grace,  the  more  it  is  spread, 
the  more  it  multiplies  in  him  that  spreads  it ;  and  they 
thought  that  in  proportion  as  Christ  was  a  light  to  lighten 
the  Gentiles,  so  much  the  less  would  he  be  the  glory  of  their 
nation,  Israel.  Now,  Mary  looked  beyond  the  boundaries 
of  her  own  nation,  and  saw  the  lamp  lighted  that  should  not 
give  a  partial  but  an  universal  light,  a  Saviour  who  should 
not  be  Jewish,  but  Catholic,  "a  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles," 
that  should  shine  beyond  the  limits  of  Palestine,  and  over- 
flow the  whole  earth  with  his  glory.  And  Mary  kept  "  these 
things,  and  pondered  them  in  her  heart." 

Another  thought  which  must  have  occurred  to  her,  and 
which  she  pondered  in  her  heart,  was  the  sweet  sense  of  for- 
giveness which  she  looked  for  in  that  babe,  and  from  that 
child  whom  Simeon  had  blessed  and  restored  again  to  her 
motherly  arms.  Strange  that  she  should  look  for  forgive- 
ness there.  I  do  not  know  a  more  beautiful  sight  than  a 
babe,  - —  I  do  not  know  a  more  helpless  one  ;  and  therefore, 
for  Mary,  the  mother  of  that  babe,  to  expect  to  receive  from 
that  helpless  infant  forgiveness,  required  a  faith  that  pierced 
the  veil  of  sense  and  circumstance,  and  looked  into  the 
holy  of  holies,  and  saw  the  child,  indeed,  in  all  the  help- 
lessness of  young  humanity,  but  God,  also,  manifest  in  the 
flesh  in  all  the  glory  of  the  everlasting  Father ;  and  by  that 
faith  which  she  had,  and  through  that  hope,  which  was  no 
less  a  cross  to  her,  she  saw  in  him  the  sacrifice,  the  high- 
priest,  the  altar,  the  glory  between  the  cherubim,  old  things 
passing  away,  and  a  new  light,  a  new  s^)lendor  breaking 
forth  and  covering  all. 

She  also  saw,  no  doubt,  and  pondered  in  hor  heart,  tliis 
prophecy,  tliat  the  '•  lion  should  cat  straw  like  the  ox,"  etc. ; 
slie  pondered  upon  the  j)romise,  "  tlie  wilderness  shall  rejoice, 


28  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  desert  and  the  solitary  places  shall  be  glad ; "  and  she 
saw,  in  holy  and  beautiful  perspective,  Eden  again  coming 
down  to  earth,  and  the  new  Jerusalem,  the  temple  of  God 
and  of  \\ie  Lamb  ;  and  heard  the  first  tidings  of  the  voice : 
"  Behold,  I  make  all  things  new." 

Mary,  too,  probably  pondered  upon  God's  great  love  thus 
manifest,  —  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son ; "  and  there  she  had  in  her  arms  the  expres- 
sion of  God's  infinite  love,  the  proof  that  he  so  loved,  the 
living  image  of  that  infinite  love ;  and  also  of  his  faithful- 
ness ;  he  had  given  a  promise,  "  The  woman's  seed  shall 
bruise  the  serpent's  head ; "  Mary  kept  that  too,  and  pon- 
dered it  in  her  heart.  "  A  virgin  shall  conceive  and  bear  a 
son,  and  his  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the 
Mighty  God,  the  Everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace  ; " 
she  kept  that  too,  and  pondered  it  in  her  heart.  And  as  she 
put  all  these  types  and  promises  together,  as  if  into  one 
mighty  cluster,  and  thought  of  the  signal  distinction  that  she, 
a  sinner,  selected  in  sovereignty,*  though  born  in  sin,  should, 
in  spite  of  her  demerits,  —  not,  as  poor  Dr.  Newman  thinks, 
in  consequence  of  her  merits,  —  be  made  the  mother  of  the 
Lamb  of  God,  truly  might  she  prophesy  of  herself:  "All 
generations  shall  call  me  blessed." 

Let  us  notice  in  the  conduct  of  Mary,  which  we  are 
studying,  the  expression,  she  pondered  all  these  things,  — 
and  again,  the  other  expression,  she  kept  all  these  things,  or 
dwelt  upon  them.  These  blessed  truths  she  not  only  thought 
of,  but  she  pondered  in  her  heart,  —  dwelt  upon  them,  till 
they  became  familiar  to  her.  If  we  want  the  truth  to  be 
incorporated  in  our  hearts,  the  plan  is  to  dwell  upon  it,  to 
look  at  it  in  every  light,  to  study  it  until  it  becomes  part  and 
parcel  of  yourselves,  and  to  pray  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
would  so  show  it  to  us  and  set  it  in  such  lights  to  us,  that  we 
shall  see  it  in  such  light  as  we  never  saw  it  in  before,  and 
then  ponder  it  in  our  heart,  till  we  find  the  truth  of  God's 


LUKE    II.  29 

holy  word  to  be,  thus  pondered,  not  mere  liusks,  but  nutritive 
and  living  bread. 

And  when  Maiy  pondered  all  these  things  in  her  heart, 
we  observe,  there  was  no  appearance  of  unnatural  transport, 
or  of  carnal  excitement,  or  of  creature  pride.  Knowing  she 
possessed  such  a  privilege  as  that  bestowed  upon  her,  it  must 
have  needed  much  grace  to  be  silent  and  to  be  humble.  I 
say,  she  must  have  needed  much  grace  to  be  silent  and  humble. 
She  was  silent ;  she  pondered  these  things  in  her  heart ;  she 
thought  and  said  nothing ;  and,  no  doubt,  when  she  pondered 
these  truths,  she  did  so  too  prayerfully ;  praying  unto  God 
that  he  might  keep  her  humble,  and  might  make  her  a  model 
to  all  mothers  in  Israel.  And  when  Mary  pondered  these 
things  in  her  heart,  she  did  so  first  probably  as  a  sinner ; 
her  heart  condemned  her,  and  "  God  is  greater  than  our 
hearts,  and  knoweth  all  things."  It  is  quite  a  delusion  to 
suppose  that  Mary  was  born  immaculate.  If  Mary  were 
different  to  any  mother  in  Israel,  Jesus  is  not  of  the  seed  of 
David.  And,  therefore,  it  seems  that  he  becomes  the  Anti- 
christ by  his  own  confession,  who  denies  that  Christ  is  come 
in  the  flesh.  Now,  the  assertion  upheld  by  Romanists  is, 
that  Mary  was  immaculate,  —  that  she  was  made  as  sinless 
as  Eve  was  when  she  came  forth  from  the  hands  of  God. 
If  she  was  so,  then  Jesus  is  not  descended  from  David,  but 
was  lifted  out  of  the  mass  of  humanity  and  made  of  a  differ- 
ent creature,  not  sharing  in  the  lot  and  destiny  of  all  hu- 
manity. Therefore  we  hold  that  Mary  was  a  poor  sinner 
with  a  corrupt  nature  just  as  we  have.  But,  you  say,  then, 
must  Christ's  nature  have  been  so  ?  No  ;  because  what  dis- 
tinguishes that  holy  and  spotless  nature  from  ours  is,  that 
though  it  was  our  nature,  it  was  our  nature  made  perfect, 
and  purified,  and  spotless,  and  infinitely  holy  ;  so  that  it  was, 
as  the  angel  predicted,  "  that  holy  thing  which  shall  be  born 
of  thee,"  and  which  should  "  be  called  the  Son  of  God." 

And  that  Mary  felt  herself  a  sinner  is  plain,  as  I  showed 
3* 


30  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

you  before,  when  she  said,  "  My  soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord, 
and  my  spirit  doth  rejoice  in  God  my  Saviour."  It  is  the 
sinner  that  needs  a  Saviour.  A  saint  in  glory  does  not  need 
a  Saviour;  he  is  saved,  he  needs  not  to  be  saved.  But, 
you  hear,  Mary  looked  to  Jesus  as  a  Saviour ;  and  by  that 
looking  to  him,  proves  that  she  felt  herself  to  be  a  sinner, 
standing  in  need  of  that  Saviour.  Now,  Mary,  as  a  sinner 
seeking  forgiveness  through  Christ,  as  a  sinner  pardoned 
and  blessed  through  him,  pondered  and  kept  the  solemn 
truth  in  her  heart,  that  —  sinner  as  she  was  —  God  should 
thus  look  upon  the  lowliness  of  his  handmaiden,  and  make 
lier  in  all  generations  blessed.  No  doubt  Mary  kept  and 
pondered  in  her  heart,  the  truth,  that  as  a  mother  she  was 
the  mother  of  that  Saviour.  I  do  not  like  the  expression 
that  the  Roman  Catholics  employ :  "  The  Mother  of  God  ; " 
or,  as  they  call  her,  the  Deipara,  or  the  Parent  of  God. 
God  is  infinite,  without  beginning  and  without  end.  She 
was  the  Mother  of  the  Manhood  or  humanity  of  Jesus  ;  and, 
therefore,  may  be  called  the  mother  of  Jesus ;  and  our 
denying  that  she  ought  to  be  called  the  Mother  of  God  does 
not  imply  that  Jesus  is  not  God.  "We  assert  that  he  is  God, 
and  was  God,  and  ever  will  be  God ;  and  yet  Mary  is  not 
the  «  Mother  of  God." 

But  Jesus  was  also  every  thing  that  man  can  be,  —  sin  ex- 
cepted. He  was  finite,  and  grew  up  in  years  and  stature,  and 
in  the  knowledge  and  love  of  God  and  man,  till  he  reached 
thirty  years  of  age,  which  was  held  to  be  a  full  and  perfect 
manhood.  And  Mary,  as  a  mother,  viewed  that  Son  as  a 
mother  views  her  first-born  still,  with  joy  and  transport ;  for 
every  mother  in  Israel  rejoiced  with  exceeding  joy  when  a 
man-child  was  born  into  the  world. 

But  still  more  did  Mary  rejoice  in  him,  and  still  more  did 
she  ponder  in  her  heart  all  these  blessed  truths,  as  a  Chris- 
tian. Mary  was  a  Christian  ;  and  like  every  Christian,  in 
her  hcftrt  Chi'ist  \vji,s  nil  i\nd  in  all.     In  the  languaij;e  of  an 


LUKE    II.  31 

ancient  father,  she  felt  more  joy  in  being  a  Christian,  and 
more  blessed  in  being  saved  as  a  Christian,  being  washed  in 
the  blood  of  the  Saviour  on  the  cross,  than  she  ever  felt  as 
the  mere  mother  of  Jesus. 

Let  us,  too,  ponder  these  truths  in  our  hearts  ;  let  us  lay 
them  up  in  our  memory ;  let  us  take  the  truths  of  God's  word 
and  lay  them  up  in  our  memory  as  precious  seeds  deposited 
there.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  prom- 
ised to  help"  the  believer's  memory,  just  as  he  is  promised  to 
sanctify  the  believer's  heart.  The  promise  is :  "  He  shall 
bring  all  things  to  your  memory,  whatever  I  have  said  unto 
you."  And  many  times,  in  suffering,  in  bereavement,  and 
in  loss,  a  single  text,  long  forgotten,  flashing  upon  your 
memory,  will  be  to  your  soul  as  the  guiding  star  in  the 
firmament  to  the  tempest-tossed  sailor.  Ponder  them,  retain 
them,  and  lay  them  up  in  your  memory  as  precious  truths  ; 
but  above  all,  lay  them  up  in  your  hearts.  Do  not  ponder 
the  truths  of  Scripture  as  if  they  were  dry  doctrines ;  but 
ponder  them  as  vital,  cheering,  and  sanctifying  truths. 
There  is  a  religion  of  the  intellect,  which  is  hard  and  dry ; 
there  is  a  religion  of  the  imagination,  which  lasts  for  a 
moment ;  there  is  the  religion  of  sentimentalism ;  but  all 
these  are  perishing.  The  religion  that  lasts  and  lives  and 
sustains  and  cheers  and  endures,  is  the  religion  of  the  heart ; 
and  therefore,  till  we  have  pondered  these  truths  in  our 
hearts,  we  have  never  yet  learned  what  those  truths  are  in 
all  their  glory  and  all  their  blessedness. 

The  root  of  Christianity  struck  into  the  intellect,  will  bear 
no  fruit ;  the  roots  of  Christianity  struck  into  the  imagination, 
will  soon  wither  and  decay  and  disappear ;  but  if  the  roots 
are  in  the  heart,  and  the  dews  of  heaven  water  them,  and  the 
beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  shine  upon  them,  they 
will  grow  up  into  everlasting  life,  to  the  glory  of  God  and 
to  your  own  comfort. 

Let  us  learn  this  lesson  from  Mary.     We  will  not  worship 


32  SCRIPTURE     READINGS. 

her ;  we  will  not  degrade  lier  by  ranking  her  as  a  goddess ; 
we  will  not  grieve  her  (if  she  can  hear  of  it)  by  asking  her 
to  be  a  mediator  ;  but  we  will  imitate  her  beautiful  example  ; 
we  will  admire  her  as  one  of  the  brightest  exponents  of 
whatsoever  things  are  pure,  and  holy,  and  lovely,  and  of  good 
report;  and  we  will  teach  the  Romanist  that  because  we 
cannot  be  guilty  of  idolatry,  we  will  not  be  unjust  towards  a 
pure  and  beautiful  mother ;  we  will  thank  God  for  whatever 
is  good  and  beautiful  in  Mary ;  imitate  her  as  far  as  she 
imitated  Christ,  and  endeavor  in  brighter  light,  with  greater 
privileges,  and  through  richer  grace,  to  excel  and  greatly  to 
outstrip  her. 

"  And  the  shepherds  returned,  glorifying  and  praising 
God  for  all  the  good  things  that  they  had  heard  and  seen." 
When  Jesus  was  taken  to  the  temple,  to  be  introduced,  ac 
cording  to  the  Jewish  law,  and  to  be  made  a  member  of  the 
visible  Jewish  Church,  we  read  that  Mary  and  Joseph  of- 
fered, what  poor  people  only  oflPered,  turtledoves.  The 
usual  offering,  I  believe,  was  a  lamb  for  a  sin-offering.  They 
were  not  able  to  afford  that ;  and  therefore  they  offered  that 
which  the  poor  Avere  allowed  to  offer.  It  is  no  sin  to  be 
poor ;  it  is  no  shame  to  be  j)oor ;  there  is  shame  in  vice 
only,  there  is  none  in  poverty;  often  a  nobler  heart  beats 
under  rags  than  beats  beneath  the  imperial  purple.  Simeon, 
then  an  aged  man,  was  in  the  temple,  "  waiting  for  the  con- 
solation of  Israel ;  and  the  Holy  Ghost  was  upon  him." 
Now,  "  It  was  revealed  to  him  by  the  Holy  Ghost  that  he 
should  not  see  death,  before  he  had  seen  the  Lord's  Christ." 
AVe  need  to  do  that  as  well  as  Simeon,  that  we  should  see 
Christ  by  faith  before  death  should  visit  us  in  fact ;  and  if 
we  have  seen  him,  —  and  faith  is  the  evidence  of  things  not 
seen,  —  and  "whom,  having  not  seen,  we  love;  in  whom, 
though  now  we  see  him  not,  yet  believing  we  rejoice,"  —  if 
we  have  seen  him  and  found  him  as  our  Saviour,  then  death 
comes  not  as  the  poursuivant  of  justice,  to  bring  us  to  the 


LUKE    II.  33 

judgment  bar,  but  as  the  herald  and  the  messenger  of  the 
cross,  to  usher  us  into  the  presence  and  the  glories  of  an 
everlasting  day.  And  when  "  he  came  by  the  Spirit  into 
the  temple,  and  the  parents  brought  in  the  child  Jesus,  to  do 
for  him  after  the  custom  of  the  law,  then  took  he  him  up  in 
his  arms,  and  blessed  God,  and  said,  Lord,  now  lettest  thou 
thy  servant  depart  in  peace."  This  hymn  is  addressed  to 
the  Third  Person  in  the  glorious  and  blessed  Trinity  ;  it  is 
a  remarkable  proof  of  the  Deity  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  for  you 
will  see  it  was  revealed  to  him  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  he 
should  not  see  death  before  he  had  seen  the  Lord's  Christ. 
These  were  his  words :  "  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant 
depart  in  peace,  according  to  thy  word."  "Which  word? 
The  revelation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  he  should  not  see 
death  till  he  had  seen  the  Lord's  Christ.  You  have  in  this 
hymn,  therefore,  an  instance  of  prayer  addressed  to  the 
Third  Person  in  the  glorious  Trinity ;  in  other  words,  the 
Holy  Ghost  recognized  as  God. 

And  how  beautiful  is  that  prayer !  —  Lord,  I  am  thy  ser- 
vant, serving  thee  on  earth ;  now  let  me  depart  in  peace,  let 
my  service  close.  I  have  been  an  outdoor  servant,  let  me 
now  be  an  indoor  servant ;  I  am  ready  to  depart  from  this 
life,  or  to  depart  from  this  temple,  or  from  this  scene,  in  the 
possession  of  perfect  peace  ;  for  I  have  seen  him  on  whom 
my  heart  has  rested,  through  promises  and  prophecies,  for 
many  a  year ;  and  now  I  am  ready  to  close  my  eyes  upon  a 
world,  the  best  and  most  blessed  sight  in  which  I  have 
now  had  the  privilege  of  witnessing ;  "mine  eyes,  have  seen 
thy  salvation,  which  thou  hast  prepared  "  —  thou,  the  author 
of  it  —  "a  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  thy 
people  Israel."  One  of  the  most  beautiful  hymns  in  the 
Christian  Church,  suitable  for  Christians  now  to  sing,  as  well 
as  an  experience  of  the  most  precious  truth  and  privileges 
of  our  faith,  is  this  song. 

Simeon  then  spoke  to  Mary,  and  said, "  Behold,  this  child 


34  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

is  set  for  the  fall  and  rising  again  of  many  in  Israel."  We 
read,  also,  that  one  Anna,  ''  the  daughter  of  Phanuel,  of  the 
tribe  of  Ascr,"  was  another  aged  Christian  that  waited  for 
the  consolation  of  Israel. 

The  child  is  said  to  have  grown,  "and  waxed  strong  in 
spirit,  filled  with  wisdom ;  and  the  grace  of  God  Avas  upon 
liim."  You  must  not  be  startled  by  all  that  is  said  of  the 
Imraanity  of  Jesus.  Many  Christians  when  they  read  these 
expressions,  say,  This  is  a  human  being.  I  would  say  to 
them.  Certainly,  he  was  human ;  all  that  can  be  said  of  you 
and  me  ought  to  be  said  of  Jesus,  sin  excepted.  And  there- 
fore, Avhen  the  Socinian  quotes  these  passages,  and  says, 
"Are  not  these  descriptive  of  Christ  being  man?"  I  an- 
swer. Certainly,  they  are  so.  But  then,  you  should  turn 
over  the  leaf,  and  you  will  find  other  passages  that  are  no 
less  descriptive  of  Christ  being  God.  Our  complaint  of  the 
Socinian  is,  that  he  takes  the  profile  view  of  Christ,  and  not 
the  full  face.  He  looks  at  him  on  one  side  of  his  character, 
—  does  not  take  a  full  view  of  his  character  ;  if  you  would 
read  the  whole,  you  would  see  that  where  he  is  described 
in  the  one  passage  as  the  suffering,  weak,  and  infirm  man, 
he  is  delineated  in  the  next  as  the  Prince  of  Peace,  the 
Wonderful,  the  Counsellor,  the  Mighty  God,  the  Father  of 
the  age  to  come. 

We  read  that  his  parents  were  returning  from  Jerusalem, 
and  that  Jesus  tarried  by  the  way ;  and  Joseph  and  his 
mother  knew  not  of  it ;  and,  supposing  him  to  have  been  in 
the  company,  they  went  on.  At  last  they  missed  him,  and 
went  after  him  to  look  for  him,  and  "  they  found  him  in  the 
temple,  sitting  in  the  midst  of  the  doctors,  both  hearing  them, 
and  asking  them  questions ; "  indicating  supernatural  wis- 
dom when  a  child,  —  for  Jesus  was  a  child,  he  was  a  boy  ; 
he  grew  in  stature  and  wisdom,  and  in  grace,  as  he  grew  in 
years ;  "  and  all  that  heard  him  were  astonished  at  his  un- 
derstanding and  answers."     His  mother  then  said  to  him, 


LUKi:  ir.  35 

-■  Son,  why  hast  thou  tlius  tlealt  with  us  ?  Behold,  thy 
father  and  I  have  sought  thee  sorrowing."  You  then  see 
how  prominently  the  mother  comes  into  view,  and  how  the 
reputed  father,  for  that  was  his  relation,  is  here  thrown  into 
the  background.  It  is  supposed  that  between  this  time,  and 
Christ's  manifestation  in  his  ministry,  Joseph  had  died ;  we 
read  no  more  of  him,  he  disappears  from  the  scene,  and  is 
spoken  of  no  more. 

But  when  they  say  to  him.  How  is  this  ?  his  answer  was, 
"  Wist  ye  not,"  —  know  ye  not,  are  ye  not  aware  — "  that  I 
must  be  about  my  Father's  business  ?  "  What  a  mysterious 
speech  !  How  inexplicable  to  Mary  !  and  yet  it  was  not  in- 
explicable, for  she  saw  that  child  was  no  common  child,  and 
therefore  it  is  said  of  her  again,  "  His  mother  kept  all  these 
sayings  in  her  heart,"  with  a  mother's  affection,  with  a  Chris- 
tian's love,  wdth  a  believer's  trust. 

"  And  Jesus  increased  in  wisdom  and  stature,"  and  there 
was  more  and  more  manifested  the  favor  of  God  towaixis 
him. 


Note.  —  "  A  public  inn,  or  place  of  reception  for  travellers  ; "  not 
"a  room  in  a  private  house,"  for  then  the  expression  Avould  be,- 
Tbey  found  no  Karulvfia.  Of  what  sort  this  inn  was  does  not 
appear. 

[14.1  The  disputes  about  this  short  song  of  praise  are  (with  one 
exception,  see  below,)  so  much  solemn  trifling.  As  to  whether  ean 
or  eoru)  should  be  supplied,  the  same  question  might  be  raised  to 
every  proclamation  which  was  ever  uttered.  The  sense  of  both  these 
is  inchided.  It  is  both  "  There  is,"  and  "  Let  there  be,"  "  Glory,"  etc. 
The  song  is  in  two  clauses  —  forming  a  Hebrew  parallelism,  in  which 
the  third  clause  is  subordinate  to,  and  an  amplification  of  the  second, 
and  so  is  witliout  a  copuUa  to  it;  thdoda  (sec  ref.)  is  that  good  pleasure 
of  God  in  Christ  by  which  he  reconciles  the  world  to  himself  in  him 
(2  Cor.  v.  19).  The  reading  evdoKiag,  Avhich  woukl  destroy  the  whole 
structure  of  the  parallelism,  is  of  very  insufficient  authority,  but  has 


36  SCRIPTLRE    READINGS. 

been  rendered  fiimous  by  its  adoption  in  the  Vulgate,  and  consequently 
by  the  Romish  Church. 

[35.]  This  prophecy  I  do  not  believe  to  have  its  chief  reference 
to  the  deep  sorrows  of  the  mother  of  our  Lord  on  beholding  his  suf- 
fering (Euthym.  al.),  much  less  to  her  future  death  by  martyrdom 
(Epiphan.  Lightf.),  for  they  stand  in  a  totally  different  connection. 
The  prophecy  is  of  the  struggle  of  many  in  Israel  through  repentance, 
to  faith  in  this  Saviour ;  among  which  number  even  his  mother  her- 
self was  to  be  included.  The  sharp  pangs  of  sorrow  for  sin  must 
pierce  her  heart;  and  the  end  follows  —  that  the  reasonings  out  of 
many  hearts  may  be  revealed,  that  they  who  receive  the  Lord  Jesus 
may  be  manifest,  and  they  avIio  reject  him  (see  John  ix.  39). 


CHAPTER    III. 

MIXISTRY     or     JOHN  —  TETRARCIIS  HIGH-PRIESTS  —  BAPTISM  — 

APOSTLES     NOT     BAPTIZED    AVITH    WATER HEBREW    NAMES     IN 

NEW  TESTAMENT  —  TRANSLATIONS — JOIIn'S  PREACHING  —  QUES- 
TIONS PUT  TO  JOHN  —  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS — BAPTISM  WITH  FIRE 
—  DESCENT   OF   SPIRIT. 

"We  now  enter  on  the  preliminary  ministry  of  John  the 
Baptist  —  the  great  herald  of  the  Saviour's  Advent  —  as 
the  voice  of  one  that  cried  in  the  wilderness,  "  Prepare  ye 
the  way  of  the  Lord : "  and  next,  we  enter  on  the  ministry 
of  him  who  now  had  passed  the  years  of  infancy  and  child- 
hood, and  attained  to  the  strength  and  vigor  of  manhood,  as 
the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  mankind. 

The  chapter  opens  by  specifying  the  era  when  these 
things  began  ;  it  states  also  who  were  the  leading  governors 
of  the  provinces,  or  districts,  or  compartments  into  which 
Judea  was  then,  under  the  Roman  dynasty,  divided. 

The  word  Tetrarch  means,  properly,  the  governor  of  a 
fourth  part  of  a  kingdom  ;  and  those  who  had  a  fourth  part 
of  the  kingdom  assigned  to  them,  were  called  Tetrarchs ; 
but  afterwards  the  word  came  to  be  applied  to  a  person  who 
had  a  section  of  a  kingdom,  whether  that  section  was  a  third, 
or  a  fourth,  or  even  a  sixth  part  of  the  kingdom. 

The  Herod  that  is  here  spoken  of  as  being  tetrarch,  or 
governor,  of  Galilee,  was  a  son  of  Herod  the  Great,  not 
Herod  the  Great  himself.  It  has  been  thought  strange  that 
in  the  second  verse  two  personages  should  be  mentioned  as 
being  the  high-priests ;  but  it  is  evident  from  history,  that 

4  (37) 


38  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

about  this  time  the  whole  Jewish  ecclesiastical  polity  had 
fallen  into  a  state  of  the  greatest  confusion.  There  were 
several  quarrels  and  disputes  about  the  office  of  the  high- 
j)riest.  It  is  impossible  that  there  could  have  existed  in 
office  two  high-priests  at  the  same  time  ;  but  it  is  plain  from 
other  contemporaneous  historians,  that  Annas  was  the  high- 
priest  who  had  been  deposed  from  his  office,  and  that  Caia- 
phas  was  the  actual  high-priest  in  possession  of  that  exalted 
and  important  dignity. 

Now,  during  the  priesthood  of  Caiaphas,  and  while  the 
superseded  high-priest  Annas  w\as  still  living,  "  the  w^ord  of 
God  came  unto  John,  the  son  of  Zacharias,"  whose  history 
in  infancy  ^xe  have  previously  read,  "  and  he  came  into  all 
the  country  about  Jordan,"  w^liich  runs  from  north  to  south, 
as  you  are  aware,  from  the  mountains  of  Carmel  to  the 
Dead  Sea,  along  the  narrow  strip  of  land  called  Palestine ; 
and  on  each  side  of  that  central  river,  that  runs  through  the 
whole  of  Palestine,  John  preached  "  the  baptism  of  repent- 
ance for  the  remission  of  sins."  Is  the  word  "  baptism  " 
used  here  in  the  sense  of  baptism  with  water?  I  very 
much  doubt  that ;  but  if  it  were,  it  would  show  that  John's 
baptism,  which  was  not  complete,  and  which  required  to  be 
supplemented,  or  rather  superseded  by  the  baptism  of  Jesus, 
was  in  some  way  connected  with  the  remission  of  sins.  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  word  "  baptism  "  is  used  here  in  that 
broad  sense  in  w^hich  it  is  often  used  in  the  Bible.  I  have 
often  mentioned  to  you  before  that  we  commit  a  great  mis- 
take in  constantly  associating  water  wdth  baptism.  The  fad 
is,  there  are  four  different  kinds  of  baptism,  and  baptism 
with  water  is  only  one  of  them.  There  is  baptism  Avith 
suffering  —  "  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  w^ith ; "  there 
is,  secondly,  baptism  in  the  sense  of  miraculous  gifts  — 
"  Ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire ; " 
and  there  is,  thirdly,  baptism  in  the  sense  of  baptism  with 
water  —  "  Go  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing ; "  and  there 


LUKE    III.  39 

is,  lastly,  baptism  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  that  inner  and 
spiritual  baptism  which  is  always  and  everywhere  regenera- 
tion. Now,  for  a  person  to  say,  that  because  he  finds  bap- 
tism associated  with  remission  of  sins,  baptism  with  water 
is  regeneration  and  remission  of  sins,  is  most  illogical,  and 
most  absurd.  In  the  language  of  an  ancient  creed  —  the 
Nicene  Creed  —  "  there  is  one  baptism  for  the  remission  of 
sins ; "  but  that  "  one.  baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins,"  is 
not  that  which  has  been  canonized  in  the  West  of  England, 
but  that  which  is  alluded  to  in  the  word  of  God — tlie  re- 
generation of  the  heart,  or  the  baptism  of  the  heart  with 
the  Holy  Ghost — which  is,  in  every  case,  the  remission  of 
sins  and  regeneration  of  the  heart. 

Many  are  baptized  with  water  who  are  not  baptized  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  some  are  baptized  with  the  Tloly  Ghost 
who  never  were  baptized  with  water.  The  thief  upon  the 
cross  was  baptized  with  the  Holy  Spirit ;  the  apostles,  ex- 
cluding Paul,  were  not  baptized.  There  is  no  jecord  or 
evidence  of  any  sort  that  Matthew,  or  any  of  the  apostles, 
ever  were  baptized  with  water.  There  is  no  evidence,  I 
say,  tliat  one  of  the  twelve  apostles  —  that  any  of  the 
twelve  apostles,  excluding  Paul  —  was  baptized  with  water. 
Now,  if  baptism  with  water  be  regeneration,  and  if  there 
be  no  regeneration  without  it,  then  the  monstrous  conclusion 
must  follow,  that  the  apostles  were  never  regenerated  or  re- 
newed by  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  even  if  it  could  be  ascer- 
tained that  some  of  the  apostles  were  baptized  —  if  it  were 
discovered  that  they  were  all  baptized,  though  it  is  not  men- 
tioned —  a  very  questionable  form  of  argument  —  then 
Judas  was  also  baptized  with  the  rest ;  and  yet  Judas  was 
not  regenerated.  In  no  sense,  and  in  no  way,  therefore, 
can  you  prove  that  baptism  with  water,  however  canonically 
administered,  in  whatever  form,  or  by  whatever  hand,  or  in 
whatever  shape,  is  regeneration  of  heart  and  remission  of 
sins.     Then  what  Avas  the  nature  of  John's  baptism  ?     If  it 


40  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

was  baptism  with  water,  —  wliicli  I  will  not  disjiute,  if  that 
be  your  idea  of  it,  though  it  is  not  stated ;  —  if  it  was  bap- 
tism with  water,  it  was  a  baptism  that  was  preparatory  and 
introductory  to  that  inner  baptism  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
which  Jesus  alone  could  bestow.  For  John  himself  says, 
"  I  baptize  you  with  water ;  but  he  that  cometh  after  me 
baptizeth  with  the  Holy  Ghost." 

In  the  next  place,  we  are  told  that  John's  mission  was 
founded  on  a  prophecy  of  Isaiah :  "  The  voice  of  one  crying 
in  the  wilderness.  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make 
his  paths  straight."  I  may  notice  here,  for  those  who  may 
not  have  looked  into  the  subject,  that  in  the  New  Testament 
we  find  names  taken  from  the  Old  Testament  are  spelt  in  a 
different  way.  The  reason  of  it  is  briefly  this,  that  the 
New  Testament  writers  quote  often  from  the  Septuagint  or 
Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testament ;  and  the  Greek 
language,  not  enduring  the  harsh  and  guttural  sounds  of 
the  Hebrew,  has  rendered  them  into  what  are  thought  softer 
forms.  Instead,  therefore,  of  keeping  "  Isaiah,"  as  it  is  in 
the  Hebrew,  it  is  translated  "  Esaias ; "  and  so  in  the  list  of 
the  names  of  those  from  whom  Jesus  is  said  to  be  de- 
scended, you  will  find  some  that  sound  to  you  strange,  sim- 
ply because  they  are  spelt  after  the  Septuagint  Greek,  and 
not  after  the  original  Hebrew.  But  the  fiict  is,  it  is  our 
anglicizing  of  the  Hebrew  that  renders  it  so  guttural ;  the 
Hebrew  in  itself  is  not  guttural ;  and  if  we  had  kept  the 
original  Hebrew  pronunciation,  we  should  have  found  it  to 
have  been  very  musical.  For  instance,  we  say  Jeremiah ; 
well,  that  seems  a  very  harsh  sound,  but  in  the  original  it  is 
very  soft  —  it  is  Yeremiah.  We  say  Joseph,  but  it  is  in  the 
original  Yoseph.  So  again,  we  say  Judah,  it  is  originally 
Yudah.  And  many  other  names  which,  as  we  have  ren- 
dered them,  sound  harsh  and  unmusical,  are  in  the  original 
extremely  musical.  But  the  Evangelists,  quoting  from  the 
Septuagint  Greek  translation,  have  given  words  with  diflfer- 


LUKE    III.  41 

ent  spelling.  And  one  very  remarkable  instance,  -which  is, 
perhaps,  an  unhappy  one,  is  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
where  Paul  says,  '^  For  if  Jesus  could  have  given  them 
rest."  That  was  the  Grecized  form  of  "Joshua"  — 
''Yoshua"  in  the  ancient  Hebrew;  in  the  Septuagint,  or 
Greek,  it  has  been  rendered  "  Yesus,"  or  Jesus ;  and  this  is 
confounded  by  some  with  the  name  of  our  blessed  Lord. 

I  may  also  mention  here  an  interesting  fact,  that  the 
Apostles  and  Evangelists  quote  from  the  Septuagint  Greek, 
which  was  a  translation  from  the  Hebrew.     This  is  sugges- 

CO 

live  of  a  very  important  lesson  to  us ;  it  shows  us  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  has  authorized  translations  of  the  Bible;  be- 
cause, if  the  Apostles  and  Evangelists  had  always  quoted 
from  the  Hebrew,  or  the  original,  so  far  there  would  have 
been  no  presumptive  evidence  in  favor  of  translations ;  but 
the  fact  that  our  blessed  Lord  and  the  apostles  quoted  from 
a  Greek  translation  from  the  Hebrew,  for  the  use  of  the 
Jews  who  were  generally  accustomed,  to  speak  Greek,  is 
presumptive  proof  that  our  Lord  and  the  apostles  sanc- 
tioned the  translation  of  the  Bible ;  so  that,  therefore,  that 
which  has  been  done  by  the  Bible  Society,  of  sending  to 
every  man  the  Bible  in  his  own  tongue,  is  scripturally 
sanctioned,  as  well  as  a  necessary  gift  to  mankind. 

John  addressed  the  multitude,  and  said  to  them,  "  O  gen- 
eration of  vipers,"  —  very  strong  language,  addressed  to  a 
very  depraved  and  a  very  dissolute  auditory.  Perhaps  it 
was  a  preaching  not  in  consonance  with  the  preaching  of 
our  blessed  Master;  the  apostles  did  not  so  speak,  they 
seem  to  have  inherited  more  of  the  spirit  of  Christ ;  but 
John  occupied,  as  it  were,  the  midway  space  between  the 
thunders  of  Sinai,  and  the  sweet,  still  small  voice  of  Cal- 
vary. He  had,  therefore,  much  of  the  terrorism  of  the 
one,  though  there  mingled  with  it  something  of  the 
sweetness  and  the  gentleness  of  the  other.  You  will, 
therefore,  find  in  the  preaching  of  John  much  that  you  do 
4  * 


42  SCRIPTUKE    READINGS. 

not  find  in  the  prcacliing  of  the  apostles  after  the  day  of 
Pentecost. 

"  Bring  forth,  therefore,  fruits  worthy  of  repentance." 
You  must  not  understand  the  n'ord  "  wortliy  "  as  meaning 
deserving,  or  entitled  to  repentance ;  it  means,  Bring  forth 
fruits  suitable  to  repentance ;  such  as  you  might  expect  to 
follow  a  true  and  heartfelt  repentance. 

And  then  he  meets  that  objection  which  the  Jews  always 
felt,  and  which  they  always  gloried  in,  "  We  have  Abraham 
to  our  father."  He  tells  them,  "  That  God  is  able  of  these 
stones  to  raise  up  children  unto  Abraham."  Do  not  boast 
of  your  lineage  ;  do  not  feel,  that  because  you  have  had  such 
illustrious  fathers,  therefore  you  are  children  corresponding 
to  their  character.  The  greatness  of  our  forefathers  should 
humble  us,  not  make  us  boast ;  their  greatness  should  make 
us  imitators  of  them ;  but  to  plead  our  forefathers,  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  our  own  worthlessness,  inconsistency,  and  wicked- 
ness, is  only  to  make  ©ur  own  criminality  greater  by  a  com- 
parison with  their  greatness.  John,  therefore,  says  to  them, 
"  The  axe  is  laid  unto  the  root  of  the  trees ; "  you  will  be 
tested,  not  by  your  fathers  from  whom  you  have  sprung,  but 
by  your  virtues  that  you  yourselves  now  bring  forth.  The 
true  test  of  a  Church  is  not  its  succession  from  the  apostles, 
but  its  merits ;  the  true  test  of  Christian  character  is  not  its 
genealogy,  but  its  fruits  — "  By  their  fruits  shall  ye  know 
them."  The  true  test  of  a  Church  is  not  its  supposed,  or 
imaginary  pedigree,  or  succession,  or  emoluments ;  but  its 
only  test,  and  the  only  test  that  will  stand  in  the  searching 
age  in  which  we  live,  is  that  it  brings  forth  fruits  to  be  ex- 
pected from  the  Church  of  Christ. 

While  John  was  thus  preaching,  the  people  came  to  him, 
and  said,  "  What  shall  we  do  ?  He  answered  and  saitli  unto 
them,  He  that  hath  two  coats,  let  him  not  suffer  any  one  to 
be  without  who  wants  one ;"  if  you  have  food  to  spare,  then  do 
not  allow  any  one  to  starve.     "  Then  came  also  publicans  to 


LUKE    III.  43 

be  baptized.  The  publicans  —  or,  more  properly,  the  tax- 
gatherers,  for  tlie  ^vord  "  publican "  has  quite  a  different 
sense  in  its  modern  meaning  from  that  which  it  had  in  its 
ancient  and  scriptural  one^. , 

The  publicans,  or  tax-gatherers  appointed  by  the  Roman 
government  to  collect  the  taxes,  came  to  be  baptized,  "  and 
said  unto  John,  Master,  what  shall  we  do  ?  "  "  And  to  every 
one  he  addressed  a  word  corresponding  to  his  vocation  ; 
"  Exact  no  more  than  that  which  is  appointed  you,"  do  not 
demand  more  taxes  than  are  really  due ;  do  not  be  guilty  of 
dishonesty  in  exacting  them.  "And  the  soldiers  likewise 
demanded  of  liim,  saying,  And  what  shall  we  do  ?  "  It  is 
remarkable  here,  that  the  w^ord  translated  "  soldiers,"  is  not 
the  ordinary  Greek  word  arpanuTai,  which  means  "  soldiers," 
but  is  orpaTev6/j.£voc,  the  participle  of  the  verb,  which  means 
"soldiers  marching  to  battle,"  or  soldiers  about  to  engage 
in  action :  and  it  is  supposed  that  these  were  some  of  the 
troops  of  Herod,  who  Avere  going  to  engage  in  a  warfare 
w^hich  he  had  provoked  or  incurred  at  this  time.  While  on 
their  march,  with  their  knapsacks  and  all  their  armor  upon 
them,  they  came  to  him,  saying,  "What  shall  we  do?" 
Now,  did  John  say  to  them,  "  Lay  down  your  arms,  you 
have  no  business  to  be  soldiers  at  all :  lay  aside  the  uniform 
of  Ctfisar ;  the  whole  thing  is  wicked  —  war  is  a  great  crime, 
you  must  not  engage  in  it  ?  "  Did  he  say  so  ?  No.  He 
said  unto  them,  War  may  be  an  evil,  but  it  is  no  sin  to  be 
a  soldier.  "  Do  violence  to  no  man,  neither  accuse  any 
falsely;  and  be  content  with  your  wages."  I  have  often 
noticed  what  some  persons  say,  that  it  is  sinful  to  be  a  sol- 
dier ;  but  it  is  only  sinful  to  be  a  bad,  a  wicked,  or  a  profli- 
gate soldier.  War  is  a  calamity  —  a  terrible  calamity  —  to 
be  deprecated  with  all  our  might,  to  be  put  off  and  avoided 
at  any  expense,  except  the  expense  of  principle,  of  safety, 
of  solemn  duty.  Do  away  with  soldiers,  and  your  homes 
would  not  be  safe ;  disband  our  army,  burn  our  navy,  and 


44  scuirxuRE  readings. 

in  a  few  years  all  the  glory  of  England  would  dejiart,  all 
your  merchandise  would  soon  be  taken  from  you,  and  this 
great  and  powerful  nation  would  become  a  poor  helpless 
province.  We  respect  and  esteem  the  beautiful  consistency 
of  those  who  are  called  Friends ;  but  in  this  matter,  cer- 
tainly, their  convictions  are  most  unscriptural,  and  their 
notions  about  war  are  impracticable,  not  to  say  absurd.  If 
to  be  a  soldier  were  condemned  in  the  Bible,  then  they 
would  be  right ;  but  while  war  is  deprecated,  and  its  source 
is  traced,  it  seems  to  me  that  defensive  war  is  a  duty ;  and 
it  has  often  been  stated  by  those  w^ho  are  the  most  compe- 
tent to  judge  of  the  whole  matter,  that  the  true  way  to  pre- 
vent war,  is  always  to  be  prepared  for  it.  An  army  does 
not  imply  that  you  love  war ;  the  maintaining  soldiers  does 
not  imply  that  you  are  anxious  to  provoke  war ;  but  it  does 
imply  that  when  war  comes,  you  are  prepared  for  it ;  and 
those  foreign  nations  who  are  not  inclined  to  obey  the  beauti- 
ful maxims  of  the  Gospel,  and  who  will  not  abstain  from 
plundering  you  because  you  are  Christians,  will  not  endeav- 
or to  invade  your  territory  when  they  see  that  you  have 
great  hearts  and  stalwart  arms  to  repel  them.  A  day  will 
come  when  there  will  be  no  war ;  but  that  day  is  not  yet 
come ;  and  the  true  way  to  supersede  the  army  is,  not  to 
make  fine  speeches  against  it,  and  against  war,  but  to  spread 
the  glorious  Gospel,  to  circulate  God's  word,  to  increase 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth  the  sway  of  true  and  living 
religion,  and  then  we  shall-  render  the  soldier  unnecessary, 
by  making  war  impossible. 

"We  next  read  that  John  explained  to  them  the  distinction 
between  his  baptism  and  the  baptism  of  Jesus.  We  have 
a  second  allusion  to  Herod  the  tetrarch,  who  was  reproved 
by  John,  as  we  saw  in  a  previous  Gospel,  and  who  cast 
John  into  prison. 

And  then  Jesus  himself  was  baptized.  I  may  just  notice 
here  the  promise,  "He  shall  baptize  you  with  the   Holy 


LUKE    III.  45 

Ghost,  and  with  fire."  If  this  is  to  be  rendered  literallj, 
"baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  fire,"  and  not 
as  some  have  proposed,  "  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
even  as  with  fire,"  —  if  it  be  taken  literally,  without  enter- 
ing upon  a  profitless  controversy,  would  not  this  imply  that 
baptism  does  not  always  mean  immersion  ?  ■  The  Baptist 
will  say  that  baptism  with  water  must  always  mean  immer- 
sion — that  the  word  (3aTTTi^o)  always  means  to  dip  or  plunge 
overhead.  But  if  you  open  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  you 
will  find  that  the  tongues  of  fire  rested  on  the  heads  of  the 
apostles ;  and  that  flame,  resting  on  an  apostle's  head,  was 
the  baptism  of  that  apostle  with  fire.  It  is  plain,  therefore, 
that  the  apostles  w^ere  not  plunged  into  fire,  they  were 
not  dipped  or  immersed  in  flame  ;  they  were  simply  sprinkled 
or  touched  with  it.  And,  therefore,  the  Greek  word  for 
"baptism"  does  not  always  mean  immersion;  and  in  this 
case  it  certainly  cannot  mean  immersion,  but  only  the  sprink- 
ling or  the  touching  of  a  part  of  the  body. 

We  then  read  that  when  Jesus  was  baptized,  the  Holy 
Ghost  descended  upon  him.  Now  it  is  said  here  that  the 
baptism  of  Jesus  is  a  precedent  for  us.  His  baptism  here 
was  not  a  baptism  for  remission  of  sins,  it  was  not  a  bap- 
tism for  regeneration,  it  was  in  no  sense,  and  in  no  shape, 
the  baptism  that  we  undergo  ;  it  was  the  baptism  by  which 
and  through  which  every  priest  entered  on  his  priestly  oifice, 
and  it  was  introductory  to  Jesus'  office  as  the  great  Priest 
of  his  Church,  and  not  his  baptism  or  admission  into  the 
visible  Church.  It  was  totally  distinct  from,  and  is  not  in 
any  shape  to  be  made  a  precedent  for,  the  baptism  that  is 
administered  to  children,  or  that  is  administered  to  adults. 

Then  it  is  said  that  "the  Holy  Spirit  descended  in  a 
bodily  shape  like  a  dove  upon  him."  Some  have  doubted 
whether  the  spirit  assumed  that  shape.  I  think  that  we 
are  not  warranted  in  concluding  that  the  Holy  Spirit  took 
that  shape ;  but  just  as  the  flame  of  fire  upon  the  apostle's 


46  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

head  was  the  outward  sign  that  the  Holy  Spirit  had  entered 
the  apostle's  heart,  so  the  descent  of  the  dove  upon  the  head 
of  Jesus  was  the  testimony  to  all  that  the  Spirit  entered  with 
his  infinite  fulness  to  qualify  him  for  the  great  and  solemn 
functions  he  was  now  about  to  fulfil. 

And  then  "  a  voice  came  from  heaven,  which  said.  Thou 
art  my  beloved  Son,"  literally  translated,  "  in  whom  I  have 
been,  in  whom  I  am,  and  in  whom  I  will  be  well  pleased." 
It  is  the  aorist  tense,  and  denotes  continuity  or  continuance. 

You  will  remember  that  the  genealogy  in  this  chapter 
appears  very  contradictory  to  that  Avhich  is  given  in  Mat- 
thew ;  and  it  has  been  supposed,  as  I  think  with  great  jus- 
tice, that  this  is  the  genealogy  of  Mary,  and  that  the  other 
is  the  genealogy  of  Joseph.  For  you  will  notice  here  that  this 
begins  thus, — "And  Jesus  himself  began  to  be  about  thirty 
years  of  age,  being  (as  was  supposed)  the  son  of  Joseph, 
which  was  the  son  of  Heli."  But  then,  Joseph  is  stated  by 
Matthew  to  have  been  the  son  of  Jacob,  and  so  he  was. 
Then  in  what  sense  could  he  have  been  the  son  of  Heli  ? 
He  was  the  son-in-law  of  Heli.  But  why  put  it  in  this 
manner?  I  answer,  A  woman  was  not  admitted  into  the 
genealogical  tables,  but  only  the  husband ;  and  in  order, 
therefore,  to  have  Mary's  genealogy  traced,  it  was  necessary 
that  it  should  be  done  through  her  reputed  husband ;  and 
therefore,  it  says,  "  Being,  (as  Avas  supposed,) "  that  is, 
according  to  the  genealogical  tables  of  the  Jews,  "the 
son   of    Heli,   which   was    the   son    of    Matthat,"   and    so 


Note.  —  It  may  suffice  us  that  they  are  inserted  in  the  Gospels  as 
authentic  documents,  and  both  of  them  merely  to  clear  the  Davidical 
descent  of  the  putative  father  of  the  Lord.  His  own  Davidical  descent 
does  not  depend  on  either  of  them,  but  on  chap.  i.  32-35,  and  is 
solely  derived  through  his  mother.  See  much  interesting  investiga- 
tion of  the  various  solutions  and  traditions,  in  Dr.  Mill's  tract. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE   TEMPTATION  —  JESUS    LED,   NOT  WENT — WEAPON  OF  DEFENCE 

SATAN HIS    DEFEAT  AND    DEPARTURE PUBLIC  WORSHIP 

JESUS    EXPOUNDING    THE    SCRIPTURES  —  LA   CALVAIRE   AT   ANT- 
WERP,  AND   PERVERSION    OF    SCRIPTURE, 

The  opening  part  of  the  chapter  I  have  read  indicates 
unequivocally  enough  that  Jesus  Christ  was  man,  and,  in 
the  language  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  "  in  all  points 
tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin."  It  is  a  blessed 
truth,  in  this  opening  account  of  the  temptation  of  our  Lord, 
and  one  that  must  be  to  every  Christian  immense  consola- 
tion, that  we  have  a  great  High-Priest,  a  Saviour,  who 
knows  us,  and  to  Avhom  we  can  appeal,  —  who  is  not  a 
stranger,  by  the  elevation  of  his  nature,  to  what  we  are, 
but  is  able,  not  only  from  beneficence,  but  from  practical 
acquaintance,  to  enter  into  the  depths  of  every  heart,  to 
fathom  the  recesses  of  every  sorrow  and  every  temptation, 
and  so  to  succor  them  that  are  tempted.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  have  evidence  enough,  from  the  responses  that  he 
gave  and  the  victory  that  he  achieved,  that  if  he  was  man, 
capable  of  being  tempted,  he  was  God,  able  to  repel,  with 
perfect  success,  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked  one. 

It  is  said,  that  "Jesus,  being  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
returned  from  Jordan,  and  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the 
wilderness."  Now,  even  that  statement  is  instructive  to  us. 
It  does  not  say  that  Jesus  went  into  the  wilderness  in  order 
to  brave  the  trials,  but  that  he  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into 

(47) 


48  SCRirXURE    READINGS. 

the  wilderness,  and  tliere  lie  endured  the  trials.  It  is  one 
thing  to  go  into  danger,  with  a  bravado  feeling  that  we  can 
repel  it ;  it  is  quite  a  different  tiling  to  be  led,  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  into  trial,  and  in  that  trial  to  seek  his  strength 
to  be  made  perfect  in  weakness.  The  first  would  be  tempting 
God  —  the  latter  would  be  complying  with  his  will,  and  con- 
quering by  his  grace  the  trials  in  which  he  has  placed  us  in 
liis  providence.  We  may  depend  upon  it,  that  God  never 
places  a  Christian,  in  his  providence,  in  any  trial  in  which 
he  does  not  give  to  that  Christian,  when  he  seeks  it,  strength 
adequate  to  successful  resistance. 

Jesus  was  forty  days  tempted  in  the  wilderness ;  and  was 
forty  days,  it  says  plainly,  without  food.  The  language  of 
Matthew  and  the  language  of  Luke  clearly  indicate  that  it 
w^as  not  what  we  call  fasting  —  that  is,  partial  abstinence 
from  food  —  but  that  it  w^as  absolute  and  entire  deprivation 
of  food.  Now,  for  any  one  to  attempt  to  imitate  Jesus  in 
this  seems  to  me  outrageously  absurd.  There  are  certain 
things  in  the  character  and  life  of  Jesus  which  are  most 
imitable,  and  which  w^e  ought  to  imitate  ;  but  there  are  cer- 
tain traits  in  that  great  character  which  are  inimitable,  and 
which  it  IS  absurdity  to  try  to  imitate.  We  are  not  to  try 
to  imitate  him  in  his  walking  on  the  waves  of  the  sea  —  we 
are  not  to  attempt  to  imitate  him  in  raising  Lazarus  from 
the  grave  —  in  living  without  food  forty  days  in  Lent ;  for 
he  that  indicated  a  power  vastly  above  the  human  is  in 
these  respects  to  remain  in  his  own  upproachable  glory  and 
greatness.  But  in  those  imitable  perfections  in  w^hich  he 
was  a  precedent  for  us,  it  is  our  duty,  and  if  Christians  it 
will  be  our  delight,  to  approach  him  as  closely  as  possible  ; 
but  to  suppose  that  abstaining  for  forty  days  in  Lent  from 
one  sort  of  food,  and  indulging  in  another,  or  abstaining 
partially  from  both,  is  either  commanded  or  dutiful,  or  in 
any  shape  indicated  as  devolving  upon  us  because  Jesus 


LUKE    IV.  49 

absolutely  liisted,  seems  to  me  a  conclusion  very  absurd, 
very  illogical,  and  to  have  no  foundation  whatever  in  the 
fact  recorded  on  this  occasion. 

When  Jesus,  after  the  forty  days'  fasting  —  that  is,  total 
abstinence  from  food  — '•  Avas  hungry,  Satan  came  to  him,  and 
told  him,  "  K  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  command  this  stone 
that  it  may  be  made  bread."  Satan  comes  to  us  just  in  the 
moment  when  our  want  is  the  greatest,  and  suggests  to  us 
still  a  mode  of  supplying  that  want  which  God  has  forbidden 
us.  He  said  to  Jesus,  "  You  want  food  :  now  here  is  the 
plan  —  Command  this  stone  that  it  may  be  made  bread." 
Jesus  could  have  done  so,  but  it  was  not  necessary  to  do  so, 
and  he  tliat  gave  him  the  command  had  no  warrant  or 
authority  to  use  it ;  and  Jesus  told  him,  "  It  is  written. 
That  man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone  "  —  there  is  a  lower 
life,  which  is  animal,  that  lives  by  bread ;  there  is  a  higher 
life,  which  is  intellectual,  that  lives  by  truth ;  but  there  is  a 
higher  life  still,  —  the  life  of  true  believers,  —  and  that  lives 
upon  the  hidden  manna,  the  bread  of  life,  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

But  it  is  very  important  to  notice  here,  that  Jesus  repelled 
every  temptation  of  the  wicked  one,  not  by  power  called  into 
play  for  the  emergency,  but  simply  by  "  It  is  written."  Can 
you  conceive  higher  authority  placed  upon  God's  holy  Word 
tlian  this — that  He  that  inspired  it  used  it  as  the  weapon 
of  his  defence  against  Satan  ?  How  justly  may  that  Word 
be  called  "  the  sword  of  the  Spirit ; "  and  how  proper  is  it 
for  us  to  have  recourse  to  that  blessed  book  in  the  hour  and 
power  of  temptation,  and  to  draw  from  that  armory  a 
weapon  that  will  be  found,  in  temper  and  in  goodness,  equal 
to  every  occasion !  "  It  is  written,  Man  shall  not  live  by 
bread  alone." 

We  then  read,  that  "  the  devil,  taking  him  "  —  that  does 
not  mean  snatching;  the  word  "  taking  "  is  used  in  Scrip- 
ture in  !?iie  sense  of  leading ;  for  instance,  it  is  said,  "  Jesus 
5 


50  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

t<aketh  Peter  and  Jolin  a|)ait"  —  tliat  is,  led  them.  So 
Satan  led  Jesus  to  "  an  high  mountain,  and  showed  unto 
him  all  the  kingdom.s  of  the  Avorld  in  a  moment  of  time." 
How  he  did  so,  I  cannot  say ;  Iioav  he  could  extend  the  ho- 
rizon so  as  to  show  all  the  kingdoms  —  that  is,  the  choicest, 
the  greatest,  and  the  chiefest  —  I  cannot  say  ;  I  only  suspect 
that  Satan  had  then  more  power  than  we  think,  and  that  he 
has  now  vastly  more  j^ower  than  we  are  at  all  aware  of.  I 
do  not  believe,  with  the  Unitarian,  that  Satan  is  a  figure  of 
speech,  —  I  do  not  believe  that  it  only  means  wickedness 
personated.  And,  very  consistently,  the  Unitarian  con- 
cludes that  the  Holy  Spirit  also  is  but  goodness  personated. 
I  believe  Satan  to  be  a  person  —  to  be  the  archangel,  reft 
of  his  glory,  his  crown,  and  his  greatness  ;  but  possessing 
still  the  archangel's  wisdom,  endued  still  with  the  archangel's 
jDOwer,  and  able  still  to  touch  the  human  heart  at  far  more 
numerous  points  than  we  think ;  and  to  exercise  in  this 
world  a  control  only  second  to  the  sovereignty  of  him  who 
is  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords.  At  all  events,  Ave  are 
told  here  that  he  showed  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  A\'orld,  and 
all  the  glory  of  them,  to  Jesus;  and  then  Satan  said  to  him, 
"  All  this  poAver  aa^II  I  giA^e  thee"  —  I  do  not  knoAV  that  he 
could  give  it ;  for  he  is  a  liar  and  a  murderer  from  the  be- 
ginning. He  professed  to  give  it  —  "  and  the  glory  of  them  : 
for  that  is  delivered  unto  me."  He  is  called  the  prince  of 
the  poAver  of  the  air  —  the  prince  of  this  Avorld ;  and  much 
in  the  AA^orld  is  from  him,  and  belongs  to  him :  but  he  said, 
"If  thou  therefore  Avilt  AA^orship  me,  all  shall  be  thine." 
Probably  he  had  no  poAA'er  to  m.ake  them  Christ's,  and  had 
no  jurisdiction  over  them  to  bestoAv  them;  but  he  said  so  — 
he  assumed  it.  But  mark  Iioav  Jesus  ansAA^ered.  The  in- 
stant the  arroAV  Avas  shot,  that  instant  it  recoiled  upon  him 
that  shot  it  —  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  ;  for  it  is  writ- 
ten "  —  here  is  the  only  reply.  He,  does  not  discuss  it,  say- 
ing, "  Well,  but  the  bargain  Avill  be  a  bad  one ;  hast  thou 


LUKE    IV.  51 

power?  is  it  expedient?  will  this  be  most  profitable?"  but 
he  repelled  it  at  once  by  one  decisive  reply  —  "  It  is  writ- 
ten, Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only 
.shalt  thou  serve."  lie  does  not  discuss  the  greatness  of  the 
offer  ;  he  does  not,  for  one  moment,  listen  to  the  temptation 
that  was  involved  in  it ;  he  repels  Satan  by  an  appeal  to  in- 
stant duty  —  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt  worship  God  only  — 
that  settles  the  whole  question  ;  I  will  enter  into  no  argu- 
ment, I  will  make  no  comj^romise ;  there  is  plain  duty,  that 
duty  is  mine,  and  that  duty  I,  as  the  great  Model  of  believ- 
ers, am  called  upon  to  do. 

He  then  set  Jesus  on  a  "  pinnacle  of  the  temple."  This 
does  not  mean  a  small  tapering  spire ;  the  temple  was  built 
upon  a  hill  —  the  roof  of  the  temple  no  person  was  allowed 
to  touch ;  it  was  covered  with  plates  of  beaten  gold,  and  sur- 
rounded by  parapets  and  sharp  spikes,  so  that  no  bird,  even, 
might  perch  upon  it  for  a  single  moment.  But  it  means 
that  he  was  taken  up  to  one  of  the  porches,  or  the  doors, 
tliat  overlooked  the  valley  that  was  below ;  and  then  Satan 
said  to  him,  "  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast  thyself  down 
from  hence  "  —  another  form  of  temptation.  And  the  devil, 
seeing  Scripture  so  mighty  to  repel  himself,  thought  that  he, 
too,  might  have  recourse  to  Scripture,  in  order  to  master 
Jesus,  —  showing  us  that  a  bad  man  may  quote  Scripture 
for  a  bad  purpose,  and  pervert  it  to  his  own  use,  in  the  same 
way  as  Satan  does  here.  Satan  knows  the  Bible  —  he  knew 
the  91st  Psalm.  He  says,  "  For  it  is  written,  He  shall  give 
his  angels  charge  over  thee,  to  keep  thee :  and  in  their  hands 
they  shall  bear  thee  up,  lest  at  any  time  thou  dash  thy  foot 
against  a  stone."  Now,  the  devil  did  not  quote  Scripture 
correctly  ;  he  omitted  two  words  —  or  rather,  three  words 
—  whidi  very  much  modify  the  promise.  It  is  in  the  origi- 
nal, "  He  shall  give  his  angels  charge  over  thee,  to  keep  thee 
in  all  thy  ways"  —  that  is,  in  the  ways  assigned  thee  by  the 
God  who  has  commanded  thee ;  but  if  thou  goest  out  of 


52  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

those  ways,  then  there  is  no  promise.  Now,  Satan  omitted 
the  path  in  which  this  protection  was  to  be  expected  —  that 
is,  the  path  of  duty  —  and  made  tlie  promise  absolute,  when 
that  promise  was  only  applicable  to  the  way  assigned  by 
God ;  thus  quoting,  and  yet  misquoting.  Scripture.  But 
Jesus  again  answered  nothing  as  to  the  temptation,  but  sim- 
ply, "  It  is  written,  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God  '* 
—  you  shall  not  plunge  into  any  thing  for  which  you  have  no 
commission,  or  risk  a  danger  that  does  not  come  before  you 
in  the  path  of  duty. 

"  And  when  the  devil  had  ended  all  the  temptation,  he 
depirted  from  him  for  a  season,"  —  which  shows  that  he 
came  back  again,  tempting  Jesus.  And,  indeed,  Jesus  leads 
us  to  infer  this,  when  he  says,  in  a  subsequent  chapter  of  St. 
John's  Gospel,  "  Satan  hath  found  nothing  in  me  "  —  indi- 
cating thereby  that  Satan  tempted  him  again,  as  well  as  on 
this  occasion. 

We  then  find  Jesus  going  into  the  places  of  Avorship  of  the 
Jews,  namely,  the  synagogue,  —  not  the  temple,  —  where 
God's  word  was  read,  and  expounding  it.  In  this  respect  he 
set  a  precedent  for  us.  He  honored  pubhc  worship  ;  and 
though  that  worship  was  very  defective,  and  those  that  en- 
gaged in  it  were  in  their  practices  extremely  corrupt,  yet, 
because  God's  word  was  read  in  it,  and  God's  worship  still 
retained  in  it,  Jesus  set  the  example  of  honoring  the  house 
of  God,  or  the  place  of  public  worship,  by  attending  it.  So 
should  we  ;  if  a  place  of  worship  has  the  worship  of  what  is 
not  God,  or  if  it  worships  God  in  a  way  positively  unscrip- 
tural  and  offensive  to  our  conscience,  then  it  would  be  our 
duty  not  to  go ;  but  if  it  be  a  place  of  worship  where  there 
may  be  much  that  we  dislike,  and  much  that  we  could  wish 
different,  yet  if  in  the  main  there  be  the  substantial  of  true 
religion,  we  must  not  therefore,  because  Ave  do  not  prefer  it, 
but  prefer  another,  hesitate  to  enter.  The  maintenance  of 
public  worship  in  a  land  is  a  most  precious  thing,  and  whcr- 


LUKE    IV.  53 

if  I  may  say  it  is  honor- 
ing it  at  all,  to  go  and  join  in  it  —  by  setting  the  example 
of  going  into  God's  gates  with  praise,  and  into  his  courts 
with  thanksgiving,  and  making  mention  of  his  name  and  his 
righteousness  only. 

According  to  the  custom  of  the  synagogue,  there  was  de- 
livered to  Jesus,  as  an  illustrious  stranger  and  a  teacher  of 
the  people,  "  the  book  of  the  prophet  Esaias.  And  when  he 
had  opened  the  book,  he  found  the  place  "  —  either  the  les- 
son for  the  day,  if  you  may  use  the  expression,  or,  as  we 
should  say,  accidentally  —  though,  of  course,  there  was  no 
accident  —  "  he  found  the  place  where  it  was  written.  The 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me 
to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal 
the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captive,  and 
recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that 
are  bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord.  And 
he  closed  the  book,  and  he  gave  it  again  to  the  minister,  and 
sat  down."  This  last  seems  strange,  but  it  is  intelligible 
enough,  when  you  know  that  the  custom  then  was  to  read 
the  Scriptures  in  the  presence  of  the  people  standing  — 
they  stood  up  when  the  Scripture  was  read ;  then,  when  the 
Scripture  was  expounded,  the  people  sat  down,  and  the  min- 
ister sat  down  too ;  and  spoke,  like  a  lecturer,  ex  cathedra^ 
rather  than  a  preacher,  addressing  the  people.  But  it 
seems  to  me  far  more  beautiful  in  the  modern  minister  to 
stand  and  speak  to  the  people.  The  Pope  sits  and  speaks 
infallibly,  as  he  believes,  ex  cathedra  ;  but  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel  stands,  reasoning  with  the  people,  teaching  the  peo- 
ple, and  expounding  and  unfolding  God's  holy  word.  But 
in  ancient  days,  the  custom  was  to  read  the  Bible  all  stand- 
ing, and  then  the  one  that  expounded  to  sit  down,  and  those 
that  listened  to  sit  down  also.  Therefore  Jesus  Christ  sat 
down  after  he  had  read  the  passage,  and  he  expounded  it  to 
the  people. 

5* 


54  SCRirXURE    READINGS. 

In  these  words  wc  have  a  precedent,  not  only  for  preach- 
ing, but  for  the  exposition  of  the  Bible.  It  is  therefore  that 
I  do,  what  is  not  always  done  in  the  Church  I  belong  to  — 
I  believe,  rarely  or  very  seldom  done,  except  in  the  case  of 
Mr.  Ilowells,  in  the  Church  of  England  —  I  mean,  expound 
the  chapter  that  I  read.  Now,  it  is  most  important  that  we 
should  understand  the  meaning  of  God's  word,  and  that  we 
should  often  be  exhorte-d  to  duty,  awakened  to  responsibility, 
and  that  we  should  be  brought  into  contact  with  large  masses 
of  that  inspired  and  blessed  book  ;  for  the  promise  and  the 
prayer  of  our  Master  is,  "  Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth ; 
thy  word  is  truth."  In  fact,  the  modern  text,  whatever  be 
its  advantages,  was  not  the  ancient  mode  of  preaching.  If 
you  will  take  the  homilies  of  Chrysostom  or  of  Augustine, 
—  and  Augustine  has  almost  gone  over  the  whole  Bible,  — 
you  will  find  that  they  rarely  took  a  text,  but  generally 
whole  passages  of  Scripture,  and  illustrated  them  by  Scrip- 
ture, and  unfolded  their  meaning  by  continuous  passages  of 
the  word  of  God.  Texts  began  in  the  schoolmen's  days, 
when  their  practice  was  to  discuss  about  how  many  angels 
could  stand  on  the  point  of  a  needle  ;  and  men  also  under- 
took to  show  how  much  they  could  say  upon  the  minimum 
portion  of  God's  holy  word.  Hence,  very  short  texts  be- 
came the  cause  of  very  long  and  very  expanded  discourses. 
But  the  consequence  of  that  was,  that  minister  and  people 
were  led  away  from  God's  word ;  whereas  the  proper  and 
the  true  practice  is  to  bring  people  in  contact  with  large 
portions  of  God's  holy  word.  Jesus  read  the  whole  of  that 
beautiful  passage,  which  is  evidently  a  prophecy  of  himself; 
and  he  told  them,  "  This  day  is  this  scripture  fulfilled  in 
your  ears."  There  is  a  very  strange  perversion  of  this  text 
in  the  Romish  Church.  I  once  visited  a  church  at  Antwerp, 
in  which  there  is  an  ascent  called  La  Ccdvaire,  "  the  Cal- 
vary," on  which  you  ascend  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  de- 
gress, with  statues  at  each  side  of  it ;  and  at  the  top  of  it 


LUKE    IT.  55 

there  is  what  is  called  a  "  dead  Christ "  —  that  is,  the  repre- 
sentation of  our  Lord  lying  pale  and  dead,  the  size  of  life ; 
and  then  there  is  this  very  passage  written  over  it  (Luke  iv. 
18).  There  is  a  box,  —  a  begging-box,  I  may  say,  —  and 
over  the  begging-box  it  is  written,  translated  into  English, 
"  For  the  souls  of  the  departed  in  purgatory ;  "  and,  in  order 
to  prompt  you  to  give  liberally,  this  passage  of  Scripture  is 
also  written,  rendered  thus :  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is 
upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel to  the  poor  ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted, 
to  preach  indulgences  for  the  captives,'^  i.  e.  in  Purgatory. 
It  is  thus  written ;  you  will  see  it  in  the  church  —  I  forget 
its  name  just  now,  but  it  is  one  which  contains  a  great  many 
of  Rubens'  paintings,  and  is  very  much  frequented  —  you 
will  see  this  miserable  perversion  of  God's  word  to  sanction 
a  miserable  and  wretched  superstition. 

And  when  he  had  expounded  this  passage,  it  is  said  that 
they  were  surprised  at  his  wisdom.  And  they  said,  "  Is 
not  this  Joseph's  son  ?  "  —  how  is  it  that  he  has  this  knowl- 
edge ?  "And  he  said  unto  them.  Ye  will  surely  say  unto 
me  this  proverb.  Physician,  heal  thyself;"  and  this  shows 
that  he  had  wrought  miracles  ifi  Capernaum,  for  he  says, 
"  Whatsoever  we  have  heard  done  in  Capernaum,  do 
also  here  in  thy  country"  —  that  is,  Do  not  work  all 
the  miracles  at  Capernaum,  but  work  them  also  in  your 
own  native  place.  In  other  words,  he  says,  "I  may  do 
so,  and  I  will  do  so;  but  you  know  that  this  proverb  is 
true  in  my  case  also,  '  No  prophet  is  accepted  in  his  own 
country.' " 

"  They  in  the  synagogue  were  filled  with  wrath,"  when 
he  told  them  of  two  simple  facts  —  one,  the  case  of  Elijah, 
and  the  other,  the  case  of  Elisha.  He  tells  them,  in  the 
first  instance,  —  "  But  I  tell  you  of  a  truth,  many  widows 
were  in  Israel  in  the  days  of  Elias,  when  the  heaven  was 
shut  up  three  years  and  six  months,  when  great  famine  was 


56  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

throughout  all  the  land ;  but  unto  none  of  them  was  Elias 
sent,  save  unto  Sarepta,  a  city  of  Sidon,  unto  a  woman  that 
was  a  widow  "  —  that  is,  he  was  not  sent  to  any  of  the  Jews, 
but  to  a  Gentile.  So  again,  "  Many  lepers  were  in  Israel 
in  the  time  of  Eliseus  "  —  or  Elisha  —  "  the  prophet ;  and 
none  of  them  was  cleansed,  saving  Naaman  the  Syrian  "  — 
another  Gentile.  He  quotes  two  cases  of  mercies  vouch- 
safed to  the  Gentiles.  The  bigoted  Jews  were  full  of 
wrath,  and  resolved  to  destroy  him.  In  other  words,  they 
were  like  some  persons  in  modern  times,  who  assume  to  have 
a  monopoly  of  Christianity,  and  hold  that  there  is  no  true 
Church  but  their  own,  and  no  salvation  out  of  that  Church. 
And  so  it  will  always  be  while  there  are  depraved  hearts 
among  mankind ;  we  must  only  try  to  rise  above  it,  and 
realize  the  magnificent  truth,  that  salvation  is  not  connection 
with  a  Church  or  connection  with  a  sect,  but  that  it  is  per- 
sonal relation  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 


CHAPTER  IV.  42. 

JESUS    IN   THE   DESERT  —  PRAYS   BY   NIGHT   AND   PREACHES   BY  DAY* 

JESUS     PREACHES      IN      CITIES  —  CHRISTIAN     REVOLUTION  — 

CHRISTIANITY    COURTS    INQUIRY — CITIES    CENTRES    OF   INFLU- 
ENCE. 

We  are  told  in  the  first  of  the  verses  I  have  read,  namely, 
the  forty-second,  that  Jesus  departed  from  the  midst  of  those 
on  whom  he  had  left  most  lasting  impressions  of  his  benefi- 
cence and  power,  and  went  away  into  a  desert,  or  a  solitary 
place.  It  immediately  occurs  to  us  to  ask,  What  was  the 
reason  that  Jesus  went  to  that  desert,  or  why  should  one  who 
was  so  eminently  useful  withdraw  himself  from  the  crowd, 
and  go  into  this  solitary  or  desert  place  ?  The  answer  is,  It 
was  not  because  he  was  weary,  it  was  not  because  he  wished 
to  have  enjoyment,  rest,  or  even  a  transient  repose,  —  his 
whole  life  was  a  sacrifice,  his  death  was  only  the  consum- 
mation of  it.  And  we  know,  from  another  Gospel,  that  the 
reason  of  his  withdrawing  was  that  he  might  engage  in 
prayer  to  his  Father  who  is  in  heaven.  For  we  are  told  in 
another  Gospel,  that  Jesus  retired  in  order  to  hold  commun- 
ion with  God,  and  to  pray  to  him  alone.  We  are,  there- 
fore, certain,  that  when  Jesus  retired  into  a  desert  place,  it 
was  not  for  the  enjoyment  of  mere  rest  or  repose  from  the 
great  work  in  which  he  was  engaged,  but  it  was  plainly,  to 
hold  communion  with  God  in  the  silence  of  the  night,  and 
in  solitude,  that  refreshed  and  strengthened  him  for  again 
engaging  in  the  work  intrusted  to  him.  He  prayed  by 
night  —  he  toiled  by  day.     When  his  discioles  went  upon 

(5T) 


58  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  sea,  and  were  toiling  in  the  stormy  deep,  Jesus  was  en- 
gaged in  intercessory  prayer  upon  the  mountain  side ;  and 
only  when  despair  threatened  to  overwhelm  them  did  lie 
interpose,  saying,  "  Be  of  good  cheer ;  it  is  I,  be  not 
afraid." 

In  the  second  place,  we  learn  that  when  Jesus  went  into 
the  desert  place  he  was  not  yet  left  alone.  The  multitude 
crowded  after  him,  partly  from  selfish  motives,  anxious  to 
enjoy  a  monopoly  of  the  good  that  he  could  do ;  and  partly 
from  motives  that  we  can  easily  appreciate  and  commend 
—  to  derive  instruction,  and  light,  and  encouragement  from 
Him  from  whom,  as  recorded  in  the  previous  portion  of  the 
chapter,  they  had  already  derived  so  many  and  so  substan- 
tial benefits  and  blessings,  and  to  be  guided  and  directed  by 
his  counsels  throughout  the  rest  of  their  life  in  this  world. 

Jesus  says  to  the  crowd  that  thus  came  round  him,  "  I 
must  go  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  other  cities  also,  for  there- 
fore am  I  sent."  He  says,  "  I  must  go  and  preach  the  king- 
dom of  God  to  other  cities  also."  They  wished  to  have  a 
monopoly  of  his  presence  ;  he  indicates  to  them  that  he  was 
a  Saviour,  not  for  a  few,  but  for  all  the  masses  of  mankind. 
He  was  not  a  lamp  to  illuminate  a  house,  but  the  great  Lu- 
minary of  heaven,  to  cast  his  radiance  and  his  splendor  upon 
all  mankind.  He  would  not,  therefore,  restrict  his  labors 
to  a  city  —  "I  must  go  and  preach  the  kingdom  of  God  to 
other  cities  also."  The  rain  must  not  fall  upon  your  field 
while  others  are  parched  and  dried  ;  the  sunbeams  must  not 
ripen  your  corn  whilst  that  of  others  perishes  for  the  want 
of  it.  I  am  a  Saviour,  not  for  the  Jews  only,  —  I  am  for 
them,  it  is  true,  if  they  will  receive  it,  but  whilst  I  am 
the  glory  of  Israel,  I  am  the  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles 
also. 

We  read  here,  that  Jesus  preached,  —  "I  must  go  and 
preach  the  kingdom."  It  is  very  remarkable  that  Jesus 
baptized  never,  but  he  preached  always.     If  baptism  were 


LUKE    IV.  59 

regeneration,  why  did  Jcrfus  never  baptize  ?  Why  did  an 
apostle  say,  "  I  tliank  God  I  have  baptized  none  of  you  ?  " 
But  that  apostle  ever  preaehed ;  and  Jesus,  whenever  there 
was  an  auditory,  felt  that  there  was  a  call  to  preach  the 
kingdom  of  God.  And  what  did  he  preach  ?  We  are  told 
that  he  preached  the  "kingdom  of  God."  What  i.s  that? 
It  is  defined  by  an  apostle ;  it  is  not  meat  or  drink^  but 
"righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 
That  is  what  Christ  preached:  not  ceremony,  for  it  is 
evanescent  and  multiform  in  its  shape,  like  the  clouds  that 
11  oat  across  the  sky :  not  politics,  for  he  was  not  the  foe  of 
Ca3sar,  but  the  friend  of  every  rightly  ordered  and  proper 
government :  not  any  thing  relating  to  this  world's  })ar- 
ties,  this  world's  affairs,  or  this  world's  disputes  —  but 
that  which  will  make  thrones  stable,  sceptres  mighty, 
subjects  loyal,  all  hearts  happy ;  he  came  to  preach  right- 
eousness, which  grows  into  peace ;  and  peace  which  culmi- 
nates into  joy ;  and  all  together  constituting  the  substance 
of  the  kingdom  of  God.  And  this  kingdom,  I  have  said,  is 
not  political  or  ceremonial.  It  begins  in  the  individual  heart 
—  it  is  seed  sown  there ;  it  does  not  propose  a  revolution  in 
social  life,  but  a  revolution  in  the  individual  heart;  no,  I 
will  not  say  a  revolution,  but  a  reformation  in  the  individual 
heart.  The  Gospel  proposes  to  make  kings  more  just,  and 
subjects  more  loyal,  not  by  political  change,  but  by  inner 
transformation  of  nature.  It  proceeds  to  make  men  first 
Christians  ;  and  next,  it  leads  them  to  adorn  and  dignify 
every  relation  of  human  life.  Other  systems  propose  to  give 
man  something  that  he  has  not;  this  religion  proposes  to 
make  man  something  that  he  is  not.  All  human  plans  try 
to  make  the  world  happy  by  something  they  would  add,  or 
something  they  would  substract,  or  some  outer  change  that 
they  would  appoint;  but  this  religion  proposes  to  make 
man  happy,  and  society  blessed,  by  changing  individual 
hearts,  by  turning  from  darkness  them  that  are  the  subjects 


60  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

of  it  into  the  light  of  Christ,  by  changing  man  into  his 
ancient  relationship  to  God ;  and  when  they  are  reinstated 
in  their  true  relationship  to  him,  they  will  lind  themselves 
restored  to  their  just  and  their  proper  relationship  to  all  man- 
kind. 

But  while  this  kingdom  was  the  subject  of  the  preaching 
of  J^us,  let  us  look,  in  the  next  place,  at  what  I  call  a  great 
peculiarity  of  his  preaching  —  the  parish  in  which  he 
preached ;  or,  if  you  like,  the  diocese  in  which  he  preached ; 
or,  if  you  like,  the  place  in  which  he  preached  —  "I  must 
go  and  preach  the  kingdom  of  God  to  other  cities  also." 
Now,  just  trace  the  preaching  of  Jesus  from  his  thirtieth 
year  to  his  thirty-third,  and  you  will  find  that  in  almost 
every  instance  it  was  in  towns  and  in  cities.  If  you  take  a 
map,  and  look  at  the  cities  upon  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret, 
you  will  find  that  in  every  one  of  them,  more  than  once, 
Jesus  preached  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  everlasting  Gospel. 
He  himself  said  to  Jerusalem,  "  How  often  would  I  have 
gathered  thee,  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her 
wings,"  implying  that  not  once,  but  often,  he  had  jireached 
in  Jerusalem  the  things  that  pertained  unto  everlasting 
peace.  Again,  he  says,  in  giving  his  commands  to  his 
apostles,  "  whatever  eity  or  town  ye  shall  enter ; "  and 
again,  "  when  ye  are  persecuted  in  one  city,  flee  to  another." 
And  speaking  of  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida,  he  says,  that  "  if 
the  mighty  works  that  had  been  done  in  them  had  been 
done  in  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  those  cities  would  have 
repented.  Thus  you  will  notice  that  in  almost  every  in- 
stance, Jesus  selected  cities  and  towns  as  the  radiating 
centres  of  influence,  in  which  he  desired  to  make  the  deepest 
impression  that  divine  truth  could  make  upon  the  human 
heart.  Mark,  again,  how  the  apostles  adhered  to  the  same 
practice.  They  preached  in  Jerusalem  and  Antioch,  in 
Azotus,  in  Pergamos,  in  Thyatira,  in  Sardis,  in  Philippi,  in 
Athens,  in  Rome.     They  constantly  appeared  in  cities  and 


LUKE    IV.  61 

towns,  preaching  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Now,  what  does  all 
this  teach  us  ?  It  seems  to  me  to  teach  the  very  important 
lesson,  that  those  that  preached  the  Gospel  after  the  death 
of  Jesus  had  perfect  confidence  in  the  truth  of  the  Gospel 
that  they  taught.  Jesus  preached  to  the  crowd  in  every 
city  —  learning  and  ignorance,  prince  and  peasant,  eccle- 
siastic and  citizen  —  and  spoke  to  them  as  to  rational  men, 
reasoning  with  them,  and  bidding  them  repent.  The  apos- 
tles, as  soon  as  Clirist  had  risen  from  the  dead,  went  into  all 
the  cities  I  have  mentioned ;  into  Athens,  illustrious  for  its 
philosophy ;  to  Rome,  illustrious  for  its  mighty  heroes ;  to 
Corinth,  degraded  by  its  sensuality  and  its  crimes ;  and  in 
the  midst  of  each  they  preached  the  same  message,  an- 
nounced the  same  truths,  and  showed,  by  submitting  those 
truths  to  the  examination  of  the  acutest  minds  that  were 
pleased  to  examine  them,  that  they  had  perfect  confidence 
in  the  truth  of  that  Gospel  that  they  taught  —  that  it  did 
not  shrink  from  the  light,  that  it  courted  inquiry,  and  that 
they  were  sure  that  the  more  it  was  examined,  the  more  it 
would  show  its  divine  origin,  and  prove  itself  the  benefac- 
tress of  man,  as  it  indicated  itself  to  be  an  embassadrcss 
from  God.* 

Now  the  results  of  this  system  were  just  what  we  should 
have  expected  from  a  religion  that  is  so  eminently  the 
truth.  It  triumphed  amidst  the  philosophers  of  Athens  — 
men  competent  from  experience,  and  from  knowledge, 
thoroughly  to  analyze  it ;  it  triumphed  in  the  midst  of  the 
soldiers  of  Eome,  it  carried  its  truths  into  the  Palace  of 
Nero  himself,  it  had  trophies  from  some  of  the  imperial 
family.  Surely,  then,  a  religion  submitted  to  this  severe 
ordeal,  and  accepted  by  men  thoroughly  competent  to  in- 
vestigate its  claims,  to  point  out  its  defects,  proves  itself  to 
be  a  religion  of  truth.  And  its  claims  have  not  lessened, 
but  have  rather  grown  with  years.  Fools  may  mock  at  it ; 
but  the  wisest,  the  holiest,  and  the  best  will  ever  hail  it,  after 
G 


62  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

tlio  severest  and  the  nurrowest  investigation,  as  the  inspira- 
tion of  God,  a  book  tliat  he  has  given  lor  our  learning. 

But  tliere  are  other  reasons  Avhy  cities  should  have  been 
selected  by  the  apostles  for  the  first  j^laces  in  -which  they 
preached ;  and  why  they  should  still  be  selected  by  us  as 
the  scenes  of  our  best  and  our  greatest  efforts  to  christian- 
ize and  to  enlighten  mankind. 

First,  in  a  city  there  is  the  greatest  crowd  accessible  to 
the  tidings  of  the  Gospel.  If  one  preaches,  it  is  better  that 
a  thousand  should  hear  than  five  hundred ;  better  still  that 
two  thousand  should  hear  than  one.  In  a  city,  if  you  have 
any  thing  worth  saying,  there  will  be  thousands  that  will  feel 
it  Avortli  their  while  to  come  and  hear.  To  select  a  city, 
therefore,  for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  seems  to  me  to 
be  the  selection  of  the  largest  possible  sphere,  and  of  the 
greatest  possible  number  of  immortal  souls  for  hearing  the 
truth  uttered,  and  for  impressions  to  be  made. 

There  is  another  reason  why  we  should  select  cities  as 
the  chief  sphere  of  Christian  action;  and  that  is,  that  the 
influence  of  cities  is  very  great.  In  literature,  and  in 
fashion,  we  know  that  they  exercise  a  prodigious  influence. 
At  this  moment,  I  should  think  that  London  gives  almost 
their  tone  to  the  largest  cities  of  the  whole  civihzed  globe  ; 
and  at  this  moment,  I  need  not  tell  you,  Paris  sets  the 
fashions  for  all  the  rest  of  the  world.  It  depends  upon  the 
Jiat  of  a  Parisian  what  dress  shall  be  worn  next  year,  what 
shape  the  dress  shall  have,  what  color,  what  costume  the 
rest  of  the  world  shall  put  on.  As  we  have  seen  that  cities 
!:iave  very  great  influence ;  how  important  is  it  that  that 
influence  should  bo  sanctified  !  If  fashion  can  go  forth  with 
such  influence  from  one  capital ;  if  mercantile  law  can  issue 
with  such  force  and  corresponding  influence  from  another 
capital,  how  much  to  be  desired  is  it,  how  earnestly  should 
we  pray,  that  these  great  and  influential  capitals  may  be  so 
saturated   wuth  living  religion,  that  on  the  wings  of  their 


LUKE    IV.  G3 

gigantic  influence  there  sliall  go  forth  tlie  elements  of  savino- 
truth ;  and  that  wherever  their  power  is  felt,  mankind  may 
feel  their  blessings  too. 

In  the  next  place,  in  a  city  every  section  of  the  country 
has  in  some  degree  its  representative.  There  is  no  family 
in  any  village  in  England,  however  small  and  insignificant 
that  village  may  be,  that  has  not  some  connection,  in  trade, 
in  business,  in  .relationship,  or  in  some  shape,  in  the  midst 
of  this  great  city ;  and  any  thing  that  makes  a  deep  impres- 
sion in  London,  is  sure  to  spread  its  multiplied  waves  from 
one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other.  London  is  the  great  heart 
of  the  empire ;  its  pulsations  are  felt  in  Cornwall,  and  in 
the  Hebrides ;  and  like  the  human  heart,  if  it  be  diseased, 
its  influence  is  destructive  ;  if  it  be  healthy,  holy,  j)ure,  it 
must  send  out  streams  of  goodness  that  consecrate  all  they 
touch,  and  carry  health  and  happiness  mid  joy  into  the 
dwellings  that  would  otherwise  be  dark  and  desolate. 

In  the  next  place,  cities  are,  on  the  whole,  perhaps,  far 
more  depraved  than  small  villages  in  the  country.  The 
poet  has  said,  — 

"  God  made  the  country,  and  man  made  the  town." 

I  do  not  know  if  that  be  as  true  as  it  is  poetical ;  but 
this  is  quite  true,  that  in  cities  and  towns  depravity  is  more 
concentrated:  and  in  a  great  capital  like  this,  a  person  can 
plunge  into  sin  without  being  seen,  while  in  a  little  rural 
village  the  eye  of  every  villager  is  on  him,  and  inspection  is 
over  him ;  but  let  loose  in  London,  a  young  man  feels  that 
if  there  be  no  restraint  in  his  own  conscience,  there  is  no 
paternal,  no  guardian  and  protective,  nor  maternal  eye  to 
watch  him,  and  to  give  him  a  hint,  and  speak  a  truth  that 
may  be  blessed  to  him.  It  is,  therefore,  important,  that 
where  there  is  the  greatest  amount  of  depravity,  there 
should  be  the  greatest  efforts  made  to  eradicate  it,  and  to 
substitute  for  it  the  influence  of  pure  and  living  religion. 


64  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

The  Strong-holds  of  a  city  are  first  assailed  by  an  invading 
force ;  the  strong-holds  of  Satan  and  of  sin  should  first  be 
attacked  by  the  ministers  of  Christ ;  and  when  they  have 
yielded,  and  holier  and  better  influences  have  taken  their 
place,  no  one  can  calculate  the  good  that  will  follow.  Almost 
all  the  judgments  that  we  read  of  in  Scripture,  pronounced 
by  our  blessed  Lord,  were  upon  cities,  ^—  Tyre  and  Sidon, 
and  Nineveh,  and  Babylon,  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida,  and 
Jerusalem,  all  have  their  woes  attached  to  them.  They  had 
vast  opportunities,  —  they  trampled  on  them;  their  lights 
were  extinguished,  their  candlesticks  were  removed,  and  the 
tide  of  life  and  light  ebbed  away,  and  their  remains  —  their 
miserable  remains,  —  are  left  to  tell  of  the  glory  they  once 
had,  and  to  indicate  the  depth  of  ruin  to  which  they  have 
now  fallen. 

If,  then,  we  cmild  see  all  the  cities  and  towns  of  England 
with  more  churches  —  double  the  number  that  they  have  — 
with  more  faithful  and  devoted  ministers  to  occupy  their 
pulpits  ;  their  city  missionaries  multiplied  a  thousand  fold. 
Scripture  readers  increased,  and  religious  institutions  ex- 
tended, I  believe  that-  more  good  would  be  done  to  the 
nation,  than  by  such  straggling  efforts  as  are  made  in  the 
lonely  and  sequestered  villages  of  the  land.  Not  that  the 
latter  are  to  be  forgotten,  but  that  the  former  ought  to  have 
the  preference.  In  London  the  best  and  the  ablest  preach- 
ers ought  to  be,  for  in  London  the  great  battle  between  In- 
fidelity, or  Romanism,  and  living  religion,  you  may  depend 
upon  it,  will  be  fought,  and  lost  or  gained.  All  this  is  great 
encouragement  to  labor,  and  to  spread  the  truth  in  such  a 
city  as  this  :  and  it  does  seem  to  me,  that  of  all  spectacles 
upon  earth  it  is  the  most  pitiful  to  see  ministers  of  different 
sections  of  the  Church  quarrel  with  each  other  in  the  midst 
of  a  city  where,  if  all  the  population  were  to  go  to  church 
on  Sunday,  there  would  still  be  nearly  a  million  that  could 
not,  if  they  were  willing,  get  within  church  walls  to  hear 


LUKIi    IV.  65 

the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Surely  it  is  a  humbling  tliought,  that 
out  of  the  two  millions  and  a  half  that  move  witliin  a  radius 
of  eight  miles  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  there  are  only,  at  the 
maximum,  120,000  communicants  in  any  church  or  chapel 
of  any  kind  whatever.  It  surely  is  a  humbling  enough  fact, 
that  in  this  great  city  more  people  leave  every  Sunday 
morning  by  the  railway,  and  by  the  steamboat,  than  go  into 
all  the  churches  and  chapels  that  are  in  it  put  together.  It 
is  surely  a  very  humbling  fact,  that  the  maximum  attend- 
ance in  all  the  churches  and  chapels  is  something  about  half 
a  million  out  of  two  millions  and  a  half;  and  it  is  not  less 
humbling  to  see  ministers  quarrel  about  the  excellence  of 
their  respective  sects ;  it  is  as  if  physicians,  in  the  midst  of 
a  prevailing  epidemioj  should  quarrel  at  the  bedside  of  their 
patients  about  the  merits  of  their  respective  diplomas.  Com- 
mon sense  would  say  to  them,  Your  duty  is  to  prescribe,  not 
to  discuss  the  excellence  of  your  diploma;  and  common 
sense  will  say,  and  from  its  silent  recesses  it  does  say  to 
every  minister  of  the  Gospel  in  this  great  city.  You  have 
no  time  to  quarrel  about  the  excellence  of  sects,  the  superi- 
ority of  parties  ;  the  work  is  too  urgent,  the  dying  too  many : 
you  are  called  upon  to  preach  the  kingdom  of  God,  to  imi- 
tate your  blessed  Master's  example,  who  said,  "  I  must  go 
and  preach  the  kingdom  of  God  to  other  cities  also." 

And  if  such  an  influence  be  radiating,  and  such  the  re- 
sults, as  I  have  described,'  Christians  ought  to  be  themselves 
more  distinct  and  unmistakable  in  their  character  in  the 
midst  of  cities.  The  world  ought  not  to  be  able  to  say, 
"  These  Christians  just  live  as  we  do,  only  the  difference  is 
that  they  go  to  church,  and  we  do  not ;  but  as  to  any  prac- 
tical effect,  they  are  just  as  dishonest  in  trade,  as  equivocat- 
ing in  their  language,  as  bad  as  the  rest  of  mankind  ;  only 
they  make  a  profession,  and  we  make  none."  My  dear 
friends,  we  ought  to  be  as  lights  in  the  midst  of  darkness ; 
we  ought  to  be  distinct,  separate,  shar[)ly  defined.  The 
6* 


66  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

world  ought  to  see,  not  that  the  Christian  is  an  eccentric 
man,  or  an  odd  man,  but  a  Christian  man.  They  ought  to 
feel  your  influence  ;  they  ought  to  see  religion  shine  in  your 
conduct ;  they  ought  to  see  your  light  so  shining  around  you 
that  they  are  led  to  glorify,  not  you,  but  your  Father  who  is 
in  heaven.  We  ought  to  be  a  chosen  generation,  a  holy 
nation,  a  peculiar  people,  a  royal  priesthood  ;  to  show  forth 
the  praises  of  Him  who  hath  called  us  from  darkness  into 
his  marvellous  light. 

And  lastly,  I  may  add,  that  you  should  aid  every  institu- 
tion that  helps  to  spread  this  blessed  Gospel  in  your  towns 
and  cities.  I  know  no  society  that  is  doing  more  good  at 
this  moment  than  the  London  City  Mission,  or  one  more 
evangelical  in  its  nature,  more  excellent  in  its  constitution, 
nor,  as  I  can  testify  from  pers.onally  following  the  mission- 
aries, more  blessed  and  owned  of  God  in  the  happy  results 
it  has  been  honored  to  achieve.  But  I  do  not  mean,  by  that 
allusion,  to  advance  the  claim  of  that  Society  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  others  ;  I  mention  it  as  one  which  deserves  a  portion 
of  your  support.  And  when  this  great  city  has  been  made 
by  grace  as  great  as  it  has  been  made  in  providence,  no 
one  can  calculate  the  holy  influence,  the  Pentecostal  in- 
fluence, it  may  be  honored  to  exert  over  all  the  rest  of  the 
earth. 

God  be  merciful  to  us  in  this  capital,  and  bless  us,  in 
order  that  his  name  may  be  known  upon  the  earth,  and  his 
savinjr  health  amono;  all  nations.     Amen. 


Note.  —  Matt.  iv.  1-11;  Mark  i.  12,  13.  Verse  1  is  peculiar  to 
Luke,  and  very  important.  The  Lord  was  now  full  of  the  Holy 
'  Ghost,  and  in  that  fulness  he  is  led  up  to  combat  with  the  enemy  — 
he  has  arrived  at  the  fulness  of  the  stature  of  perfect  man,  outwardly 
and  spiritually.  And  as  when  his  Church  was  inaugurated  by  the  de- 
scent of  the  Spirit  in  his  fulness, -so  now,  the  first  and  fittest  weapon  is 


LUKE    IV.  67 

"  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God."  Tlie  discourse 
of  Peter  in  Acts  ii.,  like  the  Lord's  reply  here,  is  grounded  in  the  tes- 
timony of  the  Scripture. 

It  was  the  custom  in  the  synagogues  to  stand  while  reading  the  law, 
and  sit  down  and  explain  it.  The  Lord  on  other  occasions  taught 
sitting,  e.  g.  Matt.  v.  1,  Mark  iv.  1,  xiii.  3.  The  VKTjpirrjg  was  the  ntj-j 
whose  duty  it  Avas  to  keep  the  -ctcred  books. 

[25.]  The  Lord  brings  forward  instances  where  the  two  greatest 
prophets  in  Israel  were  not  directed  to  act  in  accordance  with  the 
proverb,  "Physician,  heal  thyself,"  but  their  miraculous  powers  ex- 
erted on  those  who  Avere  strangers  to  God's  inheritance. 


CHAPTER    V. 


POPULARITY  OF  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  —  PULPIT  SHIP — SIMON  S 
EXPERIENCE  AS  A  FISHERMAN,  AND  CHRISt's  WORD — PETER 
OVERWHELMED  —  LEPER  HEALED — ABSOLUTION  —  THE  PARA- 
LYTIC—  CALL  OF  LEVI  —  LUKE's  ACCOUNT  OF  ST.  MATTHEW  — 
HOSPITALITY  — NEW  WINE  AND  OLD  BOTTLES. 

It  appears,  in  the  introductory  part  of  the  chapter  we 
have  read,  that  the  preaching  of  Jesus  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion upon  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  Palestine ;  and 
that,  in  consequence,  a  very  great  crowd  gathered  round 
him  at  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret,  in  order  to  hear  him  preach. 
It  seems  that  on  this  occasion  there  were  two  ships  that 
were  "moored  near  the  shore,  into  one  of  which  he  entered, 
and  had  it  thrust  out  a  little  from  the  land,  and  there  he  sat 
down  and  taught  the  people.  One  can  easily  conceive  the 
reason  of  this  ;  it  was  a  still  and  placid  lake  ;  the  boat  was 
thrust  out  a  little  in  one  of  its  creeks,  or  bays,  and  Jesus, 
sitting  in  the  boat,  had  the  whole  mass  of  the  multitude  lin- 
ing the  shore,  and  forming,  as  it  were,  a  vast  amphitheatre 
around  him.  He  selected  this  as  being  the  best  and  the 
most  convenient  place  for  conveying  his  lessons  to  those  that 
were  listening ;  thus  showing  us  that  a  church  ought  to  be 
made  for  the  convenience  of  the  people,  and  that  no  ele- 
gance of  architecture  ought  ever  to  be  suffered  to  interfere 
with  the  availableness  and  practical  usefulness  of  the  build- 
ing, which  is,  that  the  minister  may  preach  with  the  greatest 
ease,  and  the  people  hear  Avith  the  greatest  advantage. 

When  he  left  off  speaking,  lie  told  them  to  launch  out 

(68) 


LUKE    V.  69 

into  the  deep,  and  let  down  their  nets.  Simon,  that  is, 
Simon  Peter,  Avho  was  an  old  and  experienced  fisherman, 
and  who  knew  that  fish  were  to  be  caught  only  during  the 
silent  watches  of  the  night,  said,  "  Master,  we  have  toiled  all 
the  night,  and  have  taken  nothing ; "  —  we  have  caught 
nothing  by  night,  and  there  is  very  little  prospect  of  catch- 
ing any  thing  by  day :  but  how  beautifully  he  adds,  in  the 
face  of  all  precedent,  in  the  face  of  all  experience,  "  Because 
it  is  thy  word,  I  will  let  down  the  net."  So  one  word  from 
the  lips  of  Jesus  should  outw^eigh  all  else;  and  the  great 
truths  contained  in  this  blessed  book  should  overrule  all 
prejudices,  and  all  precedents  ;  for  it  w^ill  ever  be  found  that 
all  precedents  that  oppose  this  blessed  word  are  wrong,  and 
that  this  Avord  alone  abideth  forever. 

It  is  said  in  the  sixth  verse,  that  when  they  had  "  inclosed 
a  great  multitude  of  fishes,  their  net  brake."  This  is  one  of 
the  unhappy  mistakes  of  our  translators.  If  their  net  had 
broken,  of  course  the  fish  Avould  have  escaped ;  and  then  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  fill  the  ships,  so  that  the  very 
ships  should  begin  to  sink.  It  is  in  the  imperfect  tense. 
Now,  the  imperfect  tense,  both  in  the  Greek  and  Latin,  means 
a  thing  lasting,  or  going  on,  or  continuing  to  be.  The  per- 
fect tense  means  a  thing  absolutely  finished.  In  this  case,  it 
is  the  imperfect  tense,  and  it  means  really,  "  the  net  was  just 
a-breaking,"  or,  just  upon  the  verge  of  breaking,  or,  begin- 
ning, or,  almost  beginning,  or,  had  begun  to  break.  And 
translating  it  in  this  way,  which  is  the  exact  and  literal 
rendering  of  the  word,  you  can  see  that  the  help  w^as  ob- 
tained before  the  net  broke,  which  it  would  have  done  if  it 
had  not  thus  been  saved  from  doing  so.  The  Greek  w^ord 
is  perfectly  definite,  but  our  translation  of  it  is  not  correct. 

When  Peter  saw  this,  "  he  fell  down  at  Jesus'  knees,  say- 
ing. Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord."  How 
like  truth  is  that !  You  cannot  read  it  without  seeing  that 
this  is  the  picture  of  an  original ;  a  picture  drawn  from  im- 


70  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

"agination  lias  many  defects,  but  a  sketch  in  actual  history  of 
actual  facts,  always  may  be  detected  by  its  being  in  its  most 
delicate  touches  true  to  nature.  How  natural,  when  this 
great  manifestation  of  divine  power,  indicating  the  presence 
of  a  Divine  beings  was  revealed,  that  one  conscious  of  his 
sins,  his  unbelief,  his  imperfections,  his  grievous  apostasy  on 
many  an  occasion,  overwhelmed  by  the  beneficence  as  well 
as  the  omnipotence  of  the  miracle,  and  conscious  of  his  near- 
ness to  God,  and  God's  nearness  to  him,  should,  under  the 
deep  conviction  of  his  sinfulness,  say,  "  Depart  from  me,  for 
I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord  ! "  One  who  has  no  grace  at  all 
feels  nothing;  a  man  who  has  grace  to  see  his  sins  will  just 
speak  like  Peter ;  one  who  is  in  glory,  and  beyond  the  reach 
of  all  sin,  would  never  say  so  at  all.  It  was  the  language, 
not  of  a  hardened  sinner,  nor  of  a  glorified  saint,  but  of  one 
who  felt  his  sins,  by  having  grace  to  see  and  to  deplore  them. 

There  were  also  present  James  and  John,  the  sons  of 
Zebedee.  Jesus  then  said  to  Simon,  drawing  a  lesson  from 
his  own  trade,  and  from  the  scene  they  had  just  witnessed, 
"  Henceforth  thou  shalt  catch  men ; "  —  or,  "  Feed  my 
sheep,"  or,  "Feed  my  lambs;"  the  equivalent  command 
which  is  contained  in  another  Gosjoel. 

A  man  who  was  a  leper  came  and  besought  Jesus,  "  Lord, 
if  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  make  me  clean.  And  he  put  forth 
his  hand  and  touched  him."  This  was  an  unlawful  act :  the 
leprosy  was  a  disease  in  ancient  Israel  that  neither  man  nor 
priest  could  cure;  and  the  leper  was  sequestered  from  the 
rest  of  the  people,  and  nobody  might  dare  to  touch  him. 
The  fact  that  Jesus  touched  him  was  evidence  that  that  touch 
-was  the  touch  of  one  who  was  more  than  human ;  and  the 
fact  that  Jesus  said,  "  Be  thou  clean,"  and  he  was  healed, 
w^as  evidence  tliat  he  was  the  Son  of  God.  The  priest  never 
said  so ;  the  high-priest  never  said  so ;  but  when  a  person 
was  a  leper,  or  was  cured  of  a  leprosy,  he  went  to  the  priest 
and  what  the  priest  did  was  to  say,  by  certain  signs  and 


LUKE    V.  71 

proof,  or  phenomena  or  fact,'^,  wlieLher  the  leprosy  had  really 
departed.  Hence,  this  explains  to  us  that  passage,  "  Whose 
sins  ye  shall  forgive,  they  are  forgiven."  That  is  just  Le- 
vitical  language  applied  to  New  Testament  economy  facts. 
In  the  original  Hebrew,  when  the  leper  comes  to  the  priest, 
if  his  leprosy  be  still  on  him,  it  is  said  that  the  priest  shall 
—  if  I  translate  the  Hebrew  word  literally  —  "uncleanse" 
him;  but  if  the  leprosy  be  healed,  the  Hebrew  is,  when 
he  combes  to  the  priest,  the  priest  shall  "cleanse"  him; 
properly  rendered,  the  priest  shall  pronounce  him  clean 
or  unclean.  But  how  was  he  to  do  so  ?  By  the  signs  or 
proofs  that  were  upon  the  man.  So,  the  expression,  "  Whose 
sins  ye  forgive,"  is  equivalent  to  "  Whose  sins  ye  pronounce 
forgiven"  —  on  evidence,  just  as  tlie  high-priest  did  — 
"  they  are  forgiven."  "  But  whose  sins  ye  pronounce  not 
forgiven  "  —  by  the  obvious  fact  that  the  party  sinning  neither 
repents,  nor  renounces,  nor  abjures  them  —  then  "  they  are 
not  forgiven." 

But  what  was  the  reason,  you  ash,  that  Jesus  bade  the 
man  not  to  tell  it,  but  '-show  thyself  to  the  priest?"  It 
meant  that  the  miracle  could  not  be  proved,  that  the  people 
would  not  believe  that  he  was  cleansed,  till  the  priest  had 
pronounced  him  to  be  so.  The  man  went,  therefore,  to  the 
priest,  and  the  priest  pronounced  him  clean,  whom,  perhaps, 
the  day  before  he  had  pronounced  unclean,  —  not  knowing 
that  he  was  cured  by  a  miracle.  And  thus,  out  of  the  jDriest's 
reluctant  lips,  Jesus  was  attested  and  proclaimed  as  the  great 
Healer  of  the  incurable  disease,  and  therefore  God  manifest 
in  the  flesh. 

We  then  read  that  Jesus  withdrew  himself  into  the  wilder- 
ness and  prayed.  After  this,  ''  as  he  was  teaching,"  the 
Pharisees  came  round  him,  and  some  brought  "  a  man  which 
was  taken  with  a  palsy,"  or  a  paralytic,  that  is,  a  person 
Avith  a  whole  side  paralyzed.  This  Avas  a  person,  perhaps, 
in  Avliose  case  —  if  it  be  possible  —  both  sides  were  para- 


72  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Ijzed,  or  who  was  so  paralyzed  that  he  was  unable  to  rise 
from  his  bed,  or  to  help  himself.  Now,  the  house  was  so 
crowded  that  they  could  not  obtain  admittance,  and  they 
therefore  did  —  what  sounds  strange  to  us  —  let  him  down 
through  the  roof  of  the  house.  But  recollect,  that  an  ancient 
house  consisted  of  one  story;  it  w^as  in  the  shape  of  a 
quadrangle:  the  inside  square  Avas  made  the  caravanserai, 
where  cattle  w^ere  put ;  then  there  w\as  a  flight  of  stairs  out- 
side the  house,  consisting  of  some  twelve  or  fourteen  steps, 
which  led  to  the  top ;  and  they  had  only  then  to  lift  off  a 
little  of  the  flat  tiling  that  was  upon  the  roof  of  the  house, 
and  let  the  man  down  some  twelve  or  fourteen  feet,  and  he 
was  directly  in  contact  with  Jesus.  The  only  thing  was  the 
ingenuity  of  the  contrivance  ;  there  was  no  impossibility 
about  it.  And  Jesus  said  to  him  first  of  all  —  looking  at  the 
soul  before  he  touched  the  body  —  "  Man,  thy  sins  are  for- 
given thee."  That  was  absolutely  pronouncing  forgiveness. 
Well,  then,  the  Pharisees  —  who  seem  to  have  been  in  this 
matter  much  better  theologians  than  our  modern  Roman 
Catholic  priests  —  said,  and  said  very  justly,  "  Who  can  for- 
give sins  but  God  alone  ?  "  The  high-priest  did  not  pretend 
to  do  it ;  Jewish  priests,  wdio  had,  as  I  told  you,  a  real 
Aaronitic  succession,  never  assumed  to  do  it:  and  they 
gave  utterance  to  a  great  truth  when  they  said,  "  Who  can 
forgive  sins  but  God  alone  ?  "  For  any  man  —  priest  or 
people  —  to  assume  to  forgive  sins,  is  to  be  guilty  of  blas- 
phemy ;  and  if  Jesus  was  not  God,  he  was  guilty  of  blas- 
phemy. But  now  Jesus  put  them  to  the  test.  He  said, 
"Very  well,  then  I  will  show^  you  whether  it  is  easier  to 
heal  the  body,  or  to  pardon  the  sins  of  the  soul :  the  effects 
of  the  last  are  inner,  you  cannot  see  them ;  the  eflfects  of 
the  first  are  outer,  you  can  see  them.  Both  are  equally 
impossible  to  man,  both  are  equally  possible  to  God :  I  will 
therefore  heal  the  body,  and  }'ou  will  see  that  the  Healer 
of  the  body  is  present ;  and  you  may  then  very  fairly  admit 


LUKE    V.  73 

that  the  Sin-forgiver,  in  the  case  of  the  soul,  is  also  present." 
In  other  words,  you  will  come,  by  the  visible  proof  of  super- 
natural power  exerted  on  the  body,  to  the  inferential  belief 
of  supernatural  power  exerted  on  the  sinful  and  guilty  soul. 
They  saw  the  one,  they  inferred  the  other,  and  "  they  glori- 
fied God." 

We  then  read  of  the  call  of  a  publican,  or  tax-gatherer, 
called  Levi,  —  called,  in  another  Gospel,  Matthew.  And 
he  said,  "  Follow  me.  And  he  left  all,  rose  up  and  followed 
him."  You  say.  Perhaps  he  had  not  much  to  leave.  That 
is  quite  true  ;  but  it  is  just  as  difficult  to  leave  the  ten  pounds 
that  is  our  all,  as  it  is  to  leave  the  ten  thousand  pounds  that 
is  our  all.  A  poor  man  makes  a  great  sacrifice  when  he 
leaves  his  little  home,  with  its  little  furniture,  as  does  the 
great  lord  or  lady  when  they  give  up  the  noble  hall,  with 
all  its  magnificent  and  precious  contents.  It  is  the  leaving 
all,  whether  that  all  be  little  or  much,  that  constitutes  the 
true  sacrifice. 

Levi  made  a  great  feast.  Now,  you  have  in  that  state- 
ment in  Luke  a  very  delicate  and  beautiful  touch.  Matthew, 
or  Levi,  who  made  the  feast,  does  not  allude  to  the  circum- 
stance in  his  own  Gospel.  In  other  words,  he  shows  that 
absence  of  egoism,  or  egotism,  which  is  the  evidence  of  true 
humility ;  but  Luke,  the  other  Evangelist,  records  about 
Matthew  what  Matthew  does  not  venture  to  record  of  his 
own  hospitality ;  but  another,  who  probably  shared  in  it, 
speaks  of  it  for  him. 

The  Pharisees  complained  that  he  was  eating  with  sin- 
ners ;  and  Jesus  explained  to  them,  by  a  very  beautiful 
remark,  that  that  was  liis  place  —  that  he  was  a  physician, 
that  he  had  come  to  heal  the  sick  and  to  save  them  that 
were  lost.  And  then,  when  they  said,  "  Why  do  the  dis- 
ciples of  John  fast  often,  and  make  prayers,  and  likewise 
the  disciples  of  the  Pharisees,  but  thine  eat  and  drink  ?  " 
Jesus  said,   I  am  with  them  —  their  life,  their  joy,  their 

7 


74  SCKirTURE    READINGS. 

teaclier  —  you  cannot  expect  tliem  to  weep  now ;  the  days 
come  when  they  will  mourn,  when  I  am  taken  aAvay  from 
them.  He  thus  shows  them  that  fasting  has  its  appropriate- 
ness —  that  it  may  be  appropriate  at  one  time  and  inappro- 
j)riate  at  another.  In  otlier  Avords,  he  teaches  them  that 
fasting  is  not  a  duty  to  be  done,  a  penance  to  be  gone 
through,  an  expiation  to  be  made,  but  a  contribution  to  our 
spiritual  well-being;  and  that  we  ourselves  are  the  best 
judges  whether  we  ought  to  fast.  If  you  feel  that  absti- 
nence from  food  in  any  way  "promotes  your  sj^iritual  edifica- 
tion, then  abstain  from  it ;  but  if  you  feel  that  it  would  injure 
your  spiritual  edification,  then  eat  and  drink.  The  fasting 
is  made  for  man,  not  man  for  the  fasting.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  feast,  it  is  not  necessary  to  fast,  but  it  is  always 
necessary  to  eat  and  drink  moderately,  to  the  glory  of  God, 
and  for  our  own  good.  He  says,  "  No  man  putteth  a  piece 
of  a  new  garment  upon  an  old  ;  if  otherwise,  then  both  the 
new  maketh  a  rent."  Noav  in  reading  this  verse  in  our 
translation,  I  could  not  make  out  any  meaning  from  it ; 
but  I  referred  —  and  it  was  only  this  afternoon  —  to  the 
Greek  Testament,  and  there  I  saw  that  again  (and  those 
that  understand  the  rudiments  of  the  Greek  language  will 
see  it  also)  our  translators  are  at  fault.  They  make  it 
here,  "  If  otherwise,  then  both  the  new  maketh  a  rent." 
The  proper  translation  is  this  :  "  No  man  putteth  a  piece  of 
a  new  garment,  i.  e.  takes  a  piece  from  a  new  garment,  and 
adds  it  to  ah  old  one ;  for  otherwise,  then  he  rends  the  new 
garment,  and  the  new  -piece  that  is  added  to  the  old  garment 
does  not  agree  with  it."  In  other  words,  he  does  two 
mischiefs ;  he  rends  a  new  garment,  and  he  adds  this  new 
bit  to  an  old  garment,  and  he  spoils  them  both,  —  he  spoils 
the  new  garment,  which  he  has  rent,  and  he  adds  a  piece 
to  the  old  garment  which  does  not  at  all  agree  with  it. 
In  fact,  he  just  does  what  those  persons  called  Tractarians 
do :  Puseyism  is  the  spoiling  of  Koman  Catholicism,  and  it 


LUKE    V.  75 

is  the  spoilini^  of  Protestantism,  —  it  is  a  mixture  of  the 
two  that  inn)roves  neither,  and  certainly  spoils  both. 

And  so  again  he  says,  "  No  man  puttcth  new  wine 
into  old  bottles."  I  explained  to  you  before,  that  in  ancient 
times  bottles  were  made  of  skins  :  the  unfermented  wine  was 
put  into  skins,  and  as  carbonic  acid  gas  was  generated  by 
fermentation,  the  skins  expanded  to  the  very  utmost.  Then 
if  you  were  to  pour  this  wine  out  of  the  bottles,  and  to  put 
more  unfermented  wine  into  the  skin  —  already  stretched 
to  the  very  utmost  —  when  the  fermentation  began,  the  skin 
would  necessarily  burst,  and  the  \vine  would  be  lost. 

Then,  the  close  of  the  chapter  is,  "  No  man  also  having 
drunk  old  wine,  straightway  desireth  new  ;  for  he  saith, 
The  old  is  better."  Now,  I  have  seen  this  quoted  as  if  it 
meant  that  our  Lord  here  pronounced  that  old  wine  is 
better  than  new.  That  may  be  true  ;  but  then  we  ourselves 
are  the  best  judges  of  that.  But  this  is  not  our  Lord's 
meaning.  The  Greek  is,  "  No  man  having  drunk  old 
wine,  straightway  liketh  the  new  wine."  Now  what  is 
meant  by  that?  He  is  speaking  figuratively.  No  man, 
accustomed  to  the  Jewish  economy — its  fasts,  its  feasts, 
its  rites,  its  ceremonies,  — likes  at  first  a  new  religion,  such 
as  I  am  now  preaching;  but  you  will  say.  The  old,  to 
which  we  have  been  accustomed,  is  better,  and  I  Avould 
rather  not  adopt  the  new.  It  is  not  pronouncing  upon 
old  and  new  wine,  it  is  using  wine  to  illustrate  two  econo- 
mies, —  the  old  economy  of  Levi,  which  was  passing  away, 
and  to  which  the  Jews  were  accustomed,  and  the  new 
economy  of  the  New  Testament,  to  which  they  were  not 
accustomed,  —  and  he  says,  No  man  who  has  been  long 
accustomed  to  the  old  economy  will  immediately  desire 
the  new ;  but  when  he  becomes  more  acquainted  with 
the  new,  he  will  prefer  it  infinitely  to  the  old,  because  the 
old  vanisheth  away,  it  is  become  a  shadow,  but  the  new 
abideth  for  ever,  —  the  new,  th<j  living  way,  that  leadeth 
unto  God. 


CHAPTER    V.  31,  32. 

AN  APHORISM  —  THE    RIGHTEOUS  —  THE   PSEUDO-RIGHTEOUS  —  THE 

CEREMONIALLY    RIGHTEOUS SINCERITY,  ITS    VALUE SINNERS 

—  ELECTION  —  DIFFICULTIES  — NATURE  AND  DURATION  OF   SIN. 

The  first  remark  contained  in  verse  thirty-one  —  "  They 
that  are  whole  need  not  a  physician  "  —  is  an  aphorism  that 
everybody  accepts  ;  it  commends  itself  to  the  common  sense 
of  every  one  that  hears  it.  The  sick  are  the  proper  subjects 
for  a  physician  —  the  healthy  are  not.  And  so,  indicating 
the  great  analogy  between  the  natural  and  spiritual  world, 
Jesus  adds,  The  sinner  needs  a  Saviour,  the  righteous,  of 
course,  need  none.  If,  therefore,  you  belong  to  the  list  of 
the  righteous,  there  is  nothing  in  my  office  that  suits  your 
case,  thei-e  is  nothing  in  my  mission  that  can  apply  to  your 
condition  ;  but  those  that  are  sinners,  and  confess  themselves 
to  be  so,  I  am  in  my  proper  place  when  I  am  in  the  midst 
of  them ;  for  what  so  appropriate  a  place  for  the  physician 
as  the  hospital?  what  so  suitable  a  company  for  a  Saviour 
as  sinners,  and  the  chiefest  of  sinners  ? 

But  Jesus  seems  to  indicate,  or  at  least  to  suppose,  or 
admit  hypothetically,  a  class  who  are  called  "  righteous." 
Now,  who  are  they  ?  I  will  tell  you.  They  are  they  who 
love  the  Lord  their  God  Avith  all  their  heart,  and  with  all 
their  strength,  and  with  all  their  mind;  whose  affection 
never  wavers  for  a  single  second,  whose  heart's  polarity 
never  alters  for  a  moment,  —  wlio  everywhere  and  always, 
and  with  all  their  strength,  and  with  all  their  might,  love 

(7C) 


LUKE    V.  77 

God,  obey  his  will,  walk  with  him,  feel  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility to  him,  —  whose  every  thought  is  inlaid  with  Deity  — 
whose  every  affection  worships  Deity  —  whose  whole  life  is 
in  God,  and  in  whose  life  God  is  ;  thus  loving  him  with  all 
their  heart,  and  all  their  strength,  and  all  their  might. 

And  secondly,  "  they  love  their  neighbour  as  themselves." 
They  think  more  of  a  neighbour's  wants,  however  small, 
than  they  do  of  their  own  wants,  however  great ;  they  de- 
light to  do  good  to  all,  and  to  do  injury  to  none ;  they  would 
suffer  and  sacrifice  in  order  that  others  may  be  saved ;  they 
have  no  pride  in  what  they  do,  no  self-gratulations ;  they 
love  God  with  all  their  heart,  and  their  neighbour  even  as 
they  love  themselves  ;  and  they  add,  "  When  we  have  done 
all,  we  have  only  done  that  w^hicli  we  ought  to  have  done." 

These  are  the  righteous.  Are  there  any  such  here  ?  Is 
there  one  here  who  can  lay  his  hand  uj)on  his  heart,  and  say, 
"  That  is  the  category  I  belong  to  —  that  is  the  list  amid 
which  I  am  numbered  ? "  Ah,  my  dear  friends,  w^e  must 
each  say,  If  these  be  the  righteous,  we  are  not  of  their  num- 
ber. Our  own  hearts  condemn  us ;  and  God  that  made  the 
heart  is  greater  than  the  heart,  and  knoweth  all  things.  God 
be  merciful  to  us  sinners  —  we  are  not  in  the  number  of  the 
righteous.  But  whilst  we  will  admit  this  —  and  every  one, 
probably,  will  admit  it  —  there  are  those,  on  the  other  hand, 
who  are  not  righteous  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  as  I 
have  just  now  defined  it,  but  wdio  think  that  they  ar<3  so,  and 
persuade  themselves  that,  if  not  absolutely  perfection,  they 
are  still,  on  the  whole,  most  amiable,  most  kind,  most  unex- 
ceptionable characters.  But  these  parties  have  lowered  the 
law  to  suit  themselves,  instead  of  lifting  themselves  to  suit 
God's  holy  law.  In  other  words,  the  life  of  such  men  is  not 
conformity  to  the  law,  but  it  is  the  law's  conformity  to  them. 
They  have  diluted  the  exactions  of  God's  law,  they  have 
reduced  its  demands  to  the  very  minimum ;  and  wdien  they 
have  done  so,  and  rendered  a  sort  of  imperfect  obedience  to 


78  SCRIPTURE     READINGS. 

a  law  that  they  have  lovrered  to  tlieir  own  temperature,  then 
they  say  —  and  they  say  it  with  great  plausibihty  —  We  are 
righteous.  They  have  made  the  law  to  their  own  taste,  and 
they  have  obeyed  the  law  they  have  made ;  but  they  must 
recollect  —  and  it  is  my  duty  to  tell  them  —  that  their  idea 
is  a  dream  ;  that  the  law  remains  in  its  unbending  greatness, 
in  its  undiluted  exactions ;  and  that  at  this  day,  as  in  Para- 
dise itself,  it  is  still  the  law,  undiluted,  uncompromising,  un- 
altered in  the  very  least  degree  —  perfect  holiness ;  "  Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  Avith  all 
thy  strength."  If  I  address  such,  you  have  placed  yourself 
in  the  company  of  the  righteous,  where  you  really  ought 
not  to  be,  and  you  have  lost  the  advantage  of  being  in  the 
company  of  sinners,  where  you  ought  to  be,  and  where  mercy 
could  have  reached  you ;  and  the  result  is  that,  presenting 
yourself  at  God's  judgment  bar,  you  will  be  tried  by  a  per- 
fect law,  and  condemned  by  the  law ;  you  have  lost  the  ben- 
efit of  being  forgiven  through  the  gospel,  and,  seeming 
righteous,  you  are  self-deceived,  and  lost,  and  ruined  sin- 
ners. 

But  again  ;  there  are  they  who  number  themselves  among 
vlie  righteous  on  the  ground  of  ceremonial  conformity  to  the 
ceremonies  of  a  system  to  which  they  may  have  attached 
themselves.  It  is  too  true,  that  many  think  ceremonial  ex- 
actness a  reason  for  moral  laxity ;  and  wherever  there  is  a 
church  whose  ceremonies  are  extremely  multiplied,  there  it 
is  not  only  the  tendency,  but  there  is  the  historical  ftict,  that 
rigid  compliance  with  the  form  is  made  practically,  if  not 
openly,  a  substitute  for  true  conformity  to  God's  law.  Obedi- 
ence to  the  church  takes  the  place  of  obedience  to  Christ ;  — 
"  Hear  the  Church"  is  twenty  times  uttered  by  the  preacher 
for  once  that  he  says,  "  Plear  Christ ; "  the  prescription 
of  the  minister  takes  the  place  of  the  precepts  of  God. 
Pater  Nosters,  Ave  Marias,  anointings,  absolutions,  and 
priestly  satisfactions  and  indulgences,  are  all  most  rigidly 


LUKE    V.  79 

complied  with  —  thoroughly  exhausted  —  and  the  man  dies, 
believing  that  he  is  truly  righteous  because  he  is  ceremo- 
nially clean.  Alas,  alas  !  it  is  not  in  all  the  waters  of  Aba- 
na  and  Pharpar,  rivers  of  Damascus,  to  cleanse  the  soul ; 
all  anointings  of  the  body  will  not  do  for  the  unction  of  the 
Holy  One ;  no  baptism  with  water  can  ever  be  a  substitute 
for  baptism  with  the  Holy  Ghost ;  no  forgiveness  by  a  pre- 
tending priest  ever  will  be  recognized  in  heaven  for  the  for- 
giveness that  God  only  is  able,  and -^  oh,  blessed  truth  I  — 
ever  willing  and  ever  ready  to  bestow. 

Then  in  the  last  place,  among  those  that  are  righteous 
there  are  they  who  think  themselves  on  the  whole  good 
enough,  and  that  God  will  accept  a  sincere,  though  it  be  an 
imperfect  obedience.  They  think  if  they  are  perfectly  sin- 
cere that  this  is  all  that  can  be  expected.  Sincerity  in  any 
cause,  or  sincerity  in  any  religion,  makes  us  respect  the  in- 
dividual, whatever  the  religion  may  be.  I  respect  a  sincere 
Roman  Catholic.  I  will  not  indulge  in  contempt  —  for  one 
should  have  a  contempt  for  no  man,  —  but  I  have  the  lowest 
possible  opinion  of  an  inconsistent  Protestant,  of  an  insincere 
Protestant.  If  a  man  be  sincere  in  his  attachment  to  his 
creed,  I  respect  him  for  his  sincerity,  I  pity  him  for  his  creed 
if  it  be  a  wrong  one ;  but  if  he  be  insincere  in  his  attach- 
ment to  a  creed,  and  cleave  to  it  only  because  it  leads  to  self- 
ish advantages,  then  that  man  is  guilty  in  the  sight  of  God, 
and  will  be  despised  by  right  thinking  and  honorable  men. 
Sincerity  does  not  consecrate  error  ;  and  though  you  be  sin- 
cere in  your  obedience,  if  that  obedience  be  not  what  God 
demands,  then  by  deeds  of  law,  however  sincerely  done,  you 
never  can  be  justified  in  the  sight  of  a  holy  God.  It  is  just 
as  true  in  1854  as  it  was  6,000  years  ago;  man  must  pre- 
sent at  God's  judgment-seat  a  perfect  righteousness,  or  he 
never  can  be  admitted  into  heaven.  But  what  is  the  differ- 
ence, then?  you  say.  I  answer,  Adam  had  to  perform  a 
righteousness  in  the  position  in  which  hr,  was  placed;  he 


80  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

tried  it,  and  he  failed  and  fell :  but  in  our  case,  we  have 
not  to  perform  a  righteousness  by  which  we  are  justified,  but 
to  accept  a  righteousness  performed  for  us  ;  and  in  it  and  by 
it,  and  for  its  sake,  to  be  justified  and  accepted  in  the  sight 
of  God.  In  other  words,  Adam  was  placed  in  a  condition 
in  which  he  was  to  be  justified  by  deeds  of  law,  or  by  obey- 
ing the  requirements  of  God's  law ;  w^e  are  placed  in  a  con- 
dition in  which  we  neither  can  attempt  it,  nor  can  we  be 
justified  by  deeds  of  law,  but  in  a  state  in  which  we  are 
justified;  and,  in  the  language  of  an  Article  of  the  Church 
of  England,  "  we  are  accounted  righteous  before  God  only 
for  the  righteousness  of  Christ  Jesus,  received  by  faith 
alone,"  —  he  was  made  sin  for  me,  I  am  made  righteousness 
by  him.  My  sin  was  laid  upon  him,  and  he  suffered  for  it ;  his 
righteousness  is  laid  upon  me,  and  I  am  saved  by  it.  There 
was  nothing  in  Jesus  sinful  when  he  died  upon  the  cross,  — 
there  will  be  nothing  in  me  perfectly  holy  when  I  am  ad- 
mitted to  wear  the  crown.  When  Jesus  died  he  did  nothing 
to  deserve  death ;  when  I  shall  be  saved  I  shall  have  done 
nothing  that  will  deserve  heaven.  He  suffered  because  of 
sins  that  were  not  his  own ;  I  shall  be  saved  because  of  a 
righteousness  that  is  not  my  own.  My  sins  were  laid  upon 
that  spotless  Lamb  —  the  tainted  fleece  upon  the  spotless 
One ;  his  righteousness  is  laid  upon  me  —  the  spotless  fleece 
upon  the  stray  and  the  lost  sheep,  brought  back  again  to  the 
fold,  and  made  one  with  Him. 

Jesus  came,  then,  not  to  save  the  righteous,  but  he  came 
to  save  sinners.  We  have  thus  seen,  that  every  form  of  ex- 
isting righteousness  which  we  have  tried  to  examine  is  no 
righteousness  at  all.  We  must,  therefore,  come  to  the  con- 
clusion, that  there  are  none  but  sinners  upon  the  earth. 
There  are  no  righteous  ones,  strictly  so  called ;  there  are 
many  righteous  ones,  pretending  to  be  so,  who  are  not  so, 
and  who  ought  to  be  undeceived. 

But  there  are  sinners  —  great  sinners,  the  chiefest  of  sin- 


LUKE    V.  81 

ners,  —  and  Christ  has  come,  we  are  told,  not  to  call  the 
righteous,  if  they  be  so ;  but  this  is  his  mission,  this  is  the 
very  purpose  for  which  he  came  clown  to  earth  from  heaven 
—  to  seek  and  to  save  the  very  chiefest  of  sinners.  Now, 
what  has  he  done  ?  He  has  made  a  provision,  by  his  atone- 
ment, which  opens  the  gate  of  heaven  to  aU.  "  When  thou 
hadst  overcome  the  sharpness  of  death,  thou  didst  open  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  to  all  believers."  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  now  open ;  and  the  provision  that  Jesus  had  made 
upon  the  cross  exhibits  the  fixity  of  God's  law.  God  would 
save  a  world  —  he  would  save  sinners  —  but  he  would  not 
break  his  holy  law  to  save  a  whole  world.  But  this  provis- 
ion exhibits  God  as  just,  as  holy,  in  pardoning  me,  a  sinner, 
as  he  ever  was  in  pimishing,  in  his  own  place,  Judas,  an  un-^ 
believing  and  a  hardened  transgressor.  God  is  not  more 
just  when  he  punishes  a  criminal  that  rejects  the  Gospel,  in 
hell,  than  he  is  when  he  justifies  a  sinner  that  believes  on 
Jesus,  and  admits  him  to  everlasting  happiness.  And  the 
atonement  is  meant  to  show  forth  God  to  be  just,  and  to 
continue  just,  and  be  visibly  and  demonstrably  just,  whilst  at 
the  same  time  he  does  what,  according  to  his  law,  he  other- 
wise could  not  —  justifies  every  sinner  that  believes  on 
Jesus.  And  this  provision  that  Christ  has  made  by  his  cross 
is  so  eifectual,  that  if  one  human  being  that  hears  of  it  now 
is  lost,  it  is  not  because  the  road  is  too  steep,  or  the  gate  too 
narrow,  or  the  provision  not  sufficient,  but  because  he  will 
not  believe,  accept,  and  be  saved  by  it.  Every  lost  soul,  I 
have  often  told  you,  was  not  slain  —  he  is  a  suicide  :  hell  is 
filled  with  them  that  have  ruined  themselves  —  nobody  else 
is  there.  There  is  not  one  lost  spirit  that  will  ever  feel,  or 
that  ever  has  felt,  "  God's  decree  sent  me  here ; "  but  every 
lost  spirit  feels  this,  as  the  worm  that  never  dies,  and  the 
fireihat  is  never  quenched,  "I  am  here  just  because  I  would 
not  be  at  the  trouble  to  accept  God's  offer  of  eternal  hfe." 
That  is  the  only  reason,  and  no  other.     But  4:hen,  why  is  it 


82  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

that,  in  the  I[iii<>:nagc  of  our  blet^sed  Lord,  so  many  walk  in 
the  broad  way  tliat  leads  to  destruction,  and  so  lew  adopt 
and  acc<>i)t  the  narrow  way  that  leads  to  everlasting  life  ?  I 
have  heard  some  say,  ''  You  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  elec- 
tion, you  believe  that  only  the  elect  will  be  saved  :  then  if  I 
am  TiOt  elect,  of  course  I  shall  not  be  saved ;  if  I  am  elect,  I 
am  certain  to  be  saved ;  then  what  is  the  use  of  troubling 
myself  about  it  ?  "  Now,  my  reply  to  that  is  this  :  The  same 
book  that  tells  you  of  the  doctrine  of  election,  tells  you  of  a 
Saviour  also ;  and  if  you  believe  in  election  on  the  strength 
of  that  book,  why  do  you  not  believe  in  freedom  of  access  to 
the  Saviour,  which  is  equally  and  oftener  asserted  in  that 
same  blessed  book  ?  If  you  will  read  in  one  page,  "  No 
man  can  come  to  me,  except  the  Father,  who  has  sent  me, 
dviuv  him,"  why  do  not  you  open  your  eyes,  and  read  upon 
the  other  page,  "  Ye  will  not  come  to  me,  that  ye  may  have 
everlasting  life  ?  "  But,  perhaps,  you  fear  that  you  are  not 
elected,  and  that  therefore  you  cannot  believe.  Many  a  one 
has  been  found  to  say,  "  Alas !  I  am  not  elected,  and  there- 
fore I  cannot  believe."  But  the  answer  to  that  is.  You  can- 
not believe,  because  you  thus  reason  about  election.  It  is 
not  God's  decree  that  prevents  your  coming  to  Christ ;  but 
it  is  your  foolish  reasoning  about  that  decree  that  stands  in 
the  way  of  your  coming  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  fact 
is,  if  you  should  believe  yourself  to  be  one  of  the  elect,  I 
should  say.  You  are  not  one  of  the  people  that  Christ  came 
to  save ;  he  did  not  come  to  save  the  elect,  or  the  unelect ; 
but  he  came  to  seek  and  to  save  sinners.  And  if  you  can 
prove  yourself  or  place  yourself  anywhere  except  in  the 
lowly  category  and  company  of  sinners,  you  place  yourself 
out  of  that  spot  on  which  the  dew  of  forgiving  mercy  de- 
scends as  upon  the  tieece  of  Gideon,  and  you  deliberately 
exclude  yourself  from  the  reach  of  God's  pardoning  grace. 
Remember,  you  must  go  to  Jesus,  not  as  an  elect  sinner,  or 
a  predestinated  sinner,  but  you  must  go  to  Jesus  simply  as 


LUKE    V.  83 

you  are  —  a  sinner,  if  you  like  ;  the  cliiefe.st  of  siniicrs,  if 
you  like  ;  a  miserable  sinner,  if  you  like  ;  but  a  sinner,  in 
order  that  you  may  be  saved.  Jesus  Christ  came  to  seek 
and  to  save  sinners  simply  as  such ;  not  Churchmen  —  he 
did  not  come  to  save  them  ;  not  Dissenters  —  he  did  not 
come  to  save  them ;  not  Presbyterians,  not  Episcopalians, 
of  the  strictest  sect  in  either  case,  for  they  both  have  their 
Puseyism;  but  he  came  to  save  sinners,  in  spite  of  the 
shortcomings,  the  defects,  and  the  errors  of  both ;  not  the 
righteous,  but  sinners,  Jesus  came  to  call  to  repentance. 

Plaving  disposed  of  that,  let  me  now  notice  another  dif- 
ficulty that  sometimes  springs  up  in  religious  minds.  This, 
they  say,  may  be  very  true ;  but  then,  does  he  save  sinners 
—  great  sinners  —  men  that  are  inveterate  in  sin ;  who 
have  lived  forty,  fifty,  sixty  years  without  God  and  without 
Christ  in  the  world  ?  Will  he  take  the  dregs  of  life  ?  Will 
he  take  us  just  as  we  are  ?  Have  we  no  penance  to  do,  no 
preparatory  process  to  go  through,  no  w^ashing  seven  times 
in  the  Jordan  first  —  nothing  to  do,  nothing  to  pay,  no  time 
to  wait;  just  as  we  are  —  may  we  come  thus,  in  this  con- 
dition, to  a  holy,  holy,  holy  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ  ?  I  an- 
swer. The  worse  you  are,  the  more  need  you  have.  If  a 
man  is  in  the  last  stage  of  disease,  he  does  not  say,  "  I  am 
so  bad  that  I  had  better  leave  myself  to  be  cured  by  my- 
self;" but  he  says,  "The  worse  I  am, the  more  I  have  need 
of  a  j^hysician."  And  the  patient  is  healed,  not  by  feeling 
his  pulse,  but  by  taking  his  physician's  prescription.  ■  A  sin- 
ner is  saved,  not  by  meditating  upon  his  sinful  condition,  but 
by  looking  to  Jesus,  the  Lamb  of  God,  and  by  resting  upon 
him  for  pardon,  and  for  forgiveness.  If  you  remain  as  you 
are,  it  is  quite  certain  that  you  cannot  be  saved ;  if  you  go 
to  Christ  Jesus,  you  may  be  saved ;  you  cannot  be  worse 
than  you  are,  you  may  be  better  than  you  are.  And  I  tell 
you,  on  his  own  authority,  "  Him  that  cometh  unto  me,  I 
will  in  nowise  cast  out."     If  Christ  be  a  jihysician,  then  it 


84  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

is  patie'nts  that  he  came  to  cure ;  if  Christ  be  a  Saviour,  it 
is  sinners  that  he  came  to  save.  He  nowhere  specifies  that 
it  is  sinners  only  of  a  certain  degree  tliat  he  came  to  save. 
If  you  say  at  forty  years  of  age,  "  I  need  not  think  about  re- 
ligion till  I  am  seventy,"  that  is  the  most  hardening  process 
you  can  possibly  pass  through ;  if  you  say,  "  I  am  a  young 
man,  and  I  need  not  think  about  my  soul  till  a  death-bed 
come,"  that  is  of  all  resolutions  the  most  depraved;  but 
if  I  find  you  now  an  old  man,  the  heart,  like  a  muffled 
drum,  beating  its  few  last  steps  in  the  final  march  to  the 
grave,  one  step  in  it,  and  the  other  step  out  —  for  you  now, 
without  money,  without  price,  without  waiting,  without  pro- 
cess, there  is  instant  pardon,  instant  peace,  if  you  will  just 
look  to  Jesus,  who  came  to  save  the  chiefest  of  sinners. 
When  you  say.  But  did  he  come  to  save  me  ?  my  answer  is, 
Why  not  you  ?  Is  there  any  thing  that  excludes  you  ?  Has 
any  heavenly  revelation  been  made  to  you  that  tells  you  that 
you  were  never  meant  to  be  saved  ?  Have  you  heard  any 
decree  that  damns  you  forever  ?  You  know  that  there  is  no 
such  thing.  Then  why  not  you  ?  If  you  feel  that  you  are  a 
sinner,  you  may  that  moment  believe  there  is  a  Saviour  for 
you.  The  Israelite  in  the  desert,  who  was  dying  of  the 
poison  of  the  serpent's  sting,  what  did  Moses  say  to  him  ?  — 
"  Look  at  the  brazen  serpent  on  the  pole ; "  and  the  moment 
that  the  dying  Israelite  looked  at  it,  by  God's  ordinance  he 
was  set  upon  his  feet  again,  and  w^as  strong  and  Avell.  Now, 
it  is  not  I  Avho  apply  tlie  illustration,  but  Jesus  himself  ap- 
23lies  it,  when  he  says,  "  As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in 
the  wilderness,  that  whosoever  looked  on  him  was  healed, 
so  must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted  up,  that  -whosoever  be- 
lieveth  on  him  may  not  perish."  Thus  it  is  not  my  appli- 
cation, but  Christ's  application  of  it ;  therefore  I  infer,  upon 
Christ's  own  authority,  that  it  would  take  no  more  time  for 
a  sinner  to  be  saved  than  it  took  for  the  dying  Israelite  to 
be  healed.     A  look  in  the  desert  at  the  brazen  serpent  was 


LUKE    V.  '  85 

instant  restoration  to  health ;  a  look  now  at  Christ,  as  set 
forth  by  God  to  be  the  propitiation  for  your  sins,  that  is  in- 
stant pardon.  And  if  you  have  this  trust,  this  belief,  this 
coniidence,  go  out  rejoicing  in  the  possession  of  perfect  peace. 
How  long  did  it  take  the  jailer  at  Philippi  —  one  of  the 
most  abandoned  criminals  that  ever  had  charge  of  a  gaol  — 
to  be  saved  ?  He  came  in  trembling,  and  said,  "  Sirs,  what 
must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  Now,  what  was  their  answer  ? 
They  did  not  say  as  modern  priests  would,  "  Kneel  down, 
and  confess  to  me  your  sins,  that  I  may  absolve  you ; "  they 
did  not  bid  him  go  and  do  penance,  as  some  Protestant  min- 
isters still  say ;  .but  they  said,  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,"  look  at  Christ  as  the  Israelite  looked  at  the  brazen 
serpent,  "  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  And  what  is  added  ? 
The  jailer  believed,  was  baptized,  and  he  and  all  his  house 
rejoiced.  In  ten  minutes  he  was  a  happy  man,  a  pardoned 
sinner.  And  why  not  you  ?  Are  you  worse  ?  Has  the 
truth  parted  with  its  powers  ?  Has  God  ceased  to  be  gra- 
cious ?     Is  his  arm  shortened,  that  it  cannot  sa\-^  ? 

God  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever ;  and  the 
glory  of  Protestant  Christianity  —  that  wdiicli  makes  it  joy 
to  preach  it,  and  joy  to  hear  it  —  is,  that  there  is  nothing 
between  the  greatest  sinner  and  God,  the  Sin-Forgiver,  but 
his  reluctance  to  go  to  him,  and  be  pardoned,  and  justified, 
and  forgiven ;  for  Christ  is  come  to  call,  not  the  righteous, 
but  sinners  to  repentance. 

But,  my  dear  friends,  the  only  thing  I  can  conceive  of  at 
all  to  enable  you  to  do  —  or  I  will  not  use  that  word,  lest  it 
should  be  mistaken  —  to  believe,  is  the  deep  conviction  that 
you  are  in  danger.  If  you  do  not  think  that  there  is  any 
thing  the  matter  with  you,  you  never  would  think  of  apply- 
ing to  a  physician  :  if  I  am  well,  I  would  never  go  to  a  phy- 
sician to  ask  his  advice  ;  I  must  feel  that  I  am  ill,  or,  if  I  do 
not  feel  it  —  and  the  worst  diseases,  it  is  said  by  physicians, 
are  often  the  least  felt  —  some  one  must  convince  me  on 

8 


86  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

good  grounds  lliat  I  am  ill,  or  I  .should  never  think  of  con- 
sulting a  luc.'dical  man.  And  so,  my  dear  friends,  if  you  do 
not  feel  your  sinfulness,  you  will  never  seek  a  Saviour ;  and 
if  you  do  not  feel  that  sin  leads  to  everlasting  ruin,  you  will 
not  think  it  worth  while  to  take  the  trouble  of  going  to  an 
everlasting  and  glorified  Saviour.  The  fact  is,  if  you  think 
that  sin  is  merely  a  little  temporary  inconvenience,  or,  as 
Emerson,  and  Carlyle,  and  others  of  that  school,  I  fear,  think, 
that  sin  is  only  a  sort  of  imperfect  or  blighted  virtue,  —  if 
that  is  your  idea,  of  course  let  it  remain,  and  no  doubt  it  will 
blossom  into  virtue.  But  all  history  is  against  this  supposi- 
tion. We  do  not  find  that  vices  blossom .  into  virtues ;  we 
do  not  find  tares  transformed  into  wheat.  It  may  be  very 
fine  rationalism,  but  it  is  not  history,  fact,  or  Christianity. 
We  believe  sin  to  be  essentially  a  poison  —  a  poison  that 
carries  the  individual  that  is  its  subject  to  irretrievable  and 
hopeless  perdition.  Now,  the  great  conviction  that  must  be 
driven  home  to  every  one  to  induce  him  to  seek  pardon  is, 
that  your  siTi  is  not  only  inconveniencing  you,  but  that  it  is 
that  which  will  prove  your  everlasting  ruin,  unless  you  be 
delivered  from  it.  It  is  at  this  point  that  the  Universalists 
leave  us.  Their  idea  is,  that  sin  does  not  end  in  everlasting 
ruin,  and  that  our  fears  that  it  will  do  so,  are  merely  nervous 
disquiet ;  and  that  our  teaching  that  it  does  so,  is  merely  to 
keep  men  in  order.  They  do  not  think  that  sin  is  so  dan- 
gerous, they  do  not  think  that  it  is  associated  with  eternal 
woe  ;  and  therefore  there  cannot  be  in  their  preaching  great 
urgency  to  men  to  flee  to  a  Saviour.  And  secondly,  at  this 
point  the  Socinian  also  leaves  us.  He  believes  that  man's 
sins  are  so  venial,  that  God  may  connive  at  them,  or  at  least 
that  he  can  forgive  them  without  an  atonement ;  and  that 
the  la,w  is  so  accommodating,  that  as  we  cannot  go  up  to  it, 
it  will  come  down  to  us ;  and  therefore  they  cannot  preach 
the  urgency  of  instant  recourse  to  a  Saviour.  But  convince 
the  Socinian  that  the  least  sin  carries  in  its  bosom  everlast- 


LUKE    V.  87 

ing  ruin,  and  he  will  soon  infer,  Therefore  there  mnst  be  a 
Divine  Atonement  ;  therefore  there  must  be  a  Divine  Being 
to  make  it ;  therefor%I  must  lean,  not  upon  an  arm  of  ilesh, 
but  upon  the  arm  of  the  living  God. 

It  is  at  this  point,  too,  that  the  profane  world  will  leave 
us.  They  will  mock  at  such  statements,  they  will  despise 
these  threatenings,  they  will  pour  contempt  upon  them. 
And  here,  too,  the  very  decent,  the  very  respectable,  the 
very  decorous,  will  leave  us.  The  most  polished,  the.  most 
refined,  the  most  elegant  will  say.  That  preaching  is  too 
shocking  —  the  idea  of  people  going  to  hell!  It  is  too 
shocking  to  be  spoken  of.  It  cannot  be  a  true  religion,  that 
cannot  be  faithful  preaching,  that  frightens  people  with  such 
statements  as  that ;  and  therefore  Ave  do  not  believe  it.  It 
is  too  severe,  too  rigid,  too  strict  a  Christianity ;  Ave  should 
like  something  more  gentle,  a  sweeter  song,  something  more 
palatable  ;  Ave  Avant  something  joyous  —  Ave  do  not  Avant  to 
hear  such  preaching  as  that. 

My  dear  friends,  it  is  not  A\diat  it  is,  but  is  it  true  ?  Is  it 
true  that  the  Avages  of  sin  is  death  ?  Is  it  true,  "  Cursed  is 
CA^ery  one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things  that  are  Avritten 
in  the  laAV,  to  do  them  ?  "  Is  it  true,  "  Tribulation,  anguish, 
and  Avrath  upon  CA^ery  man  that  doeth  CA'il  ?  "  Is  it  true, 
"  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire  ?  "  If  I 
preach  that  as  the  only  thing  I  have  to  teach  you,  you  Avould 
be  quite  right  to  go  where  you  aa^II  be  better  taught;  but  I 
tell  you  of  your  peril  that  you  may  escape  from  it ;  and  I 
tell  you  of  your  disease,  not  to  torment  you,  but  to  lead  you 
to  the  Physician  that  can  heal  you.  I  tell  you  what  sin  is, 
and  AAdiat  sin  Avill  lead  to,  in  order  to  carry  you  to  Him  who 
Avaits  more  Avillingly  for  you  to  come  than  ever  you  can 
desire  to  go.  And  therefore  the  preaching  that  seems  so 
shocking  may  seem  so  in  its  profile  —  in  its  first  aspect  — 
but  if  heard  as  a  Avhole,  it  Avill  be  the  good  ncAvs  that  rings 
like   SAveet   music  from   the   skies,  "  Son,  daughter,  be   of 


88  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

good  clieer,  thy  sins  be  foi-given  tliee."  And  if  tliey  are 
not  forgiven  thee,  it  is  not  because  Christ  cannot,  or  Christ 
will  not,  but  because  you  will  not  go  ^  him,  that  you  may 
have  life. 

We  bless  God,  then,  that  Christ  thus  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners.  And  if  sin  be  not  an  evil  of  the  greatest 
magnitude,  if  sin  be  not  a  load  that  sinks  the  soul  to  hell, 
then  Christ  threw  away  his  life  to  no  purpose.  I  say,  if  sin 
be  any  thing  less  than  an  evil  which  ruins  the  soul  for  ever, 
then  Calvary  was  not  required,  and  Jesus  Christ  threw  away 
his  life ;  it  was  not  necessary  that  he  should  die. 

It  is  said,  that  by  the  shadow  projected  from  the  Pyramids 
you  may  estimate  their  magnificent  height.  By  Christ's 
death  and  Christ's  sacrifice  you  may  estimate  what  sin  is ; 
and  by  what  sin  is  you  may  estimate  the  depth,  and  length, 
and  breadth  of  that  atonement  through  which  you  may  be 
forgiven.  You  may  depend  upon  it,  it  was  an  infinite  evil 
that  demanded  such  an  infinite  sacrifice ;  and  if  sin  could 
have  been  otherwise  forgiven,  and  sinners  saved  at  a  less 
expense,  Jesus  had  not  so  suffered,  the  Bible  had  not  so 
recorded  it. 


Note.  —  "  Below  this,  is  the  utterly  profane  state,  in  which  there 
is  no  contrast,  no  contradiction  felt,  between  the  holy  and  the  unholy, 
between  God  and  man.  Above  it,  is  the  state  of  grace,  in  which  the 
contradiction  is  felt,  the  deep  gulf  perceived  which  divides  between 
sinful  man  and  an  holy  God  ;  yet  it  is  felt  that  this  gulf  is  bridged  over 
—  that  it  is  possible  for  the  two  to  meet  —  that  in  One  who  is  sharer 
with  both  they  have  already  been  brought  together."  —  (Trench  on  the 
Miracles,  p.  132.)  The  same  writer  remarks  of  the  miracle  itself,"  Christ 
here  appears  as  the  ideal  man,  the  second  Adam  of  the  eighth  Psalm : 
'  Thou  madcst  him  to  have  dominion  over  the  works  of  thy  hands ; 

thou  hast  put  all  things  under  Ids  feet; the  fowl  of  the  air, 

and  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  whatsoever  passeth  through  the  paths  of  the 
seas.' " 


CHAPTER    VI. 

EATING  CORN  ON  THE  SABBATH — CHRIST  VINDICATES  THE  DISCIPLES 
— ^A  MAN  WITH  A  WITHERED  HAND  —  CARPING  SCRIBES  MAD  AT 
JESUS — JESUS  MANAS  TRULY  AS  GOD — SELECTION  OF  APOSTLES 
^DISCOURSE  ON  THE  MOUNT — INSPIRATION  AND  STYLE — SPEAK- 
ING  WELL   OF   MIRACLES — LAWSUITS. 

We  find,  in  the  opening  part  of  the  chapter,  a  rebuke 
addressed  to  those  who  attached  a  superstitious  and  not  a 
spiritual  veneration  to  the  Sabbath,  by  Him  who  is  also,  as 
he  tells  us  here,  the  "  Lord  of  tlie  Sabbath."  It  appears 
tliat  the  disciples  went  through  the  cornfields,  and,  famished 
with  hunger,  having  had  httle  to  eat,  and  that  little  not  of 
the  best  kind,  they  ate  of  the  growing  corn,  rubbing  the  corn 
in  their  hands,  and  appeasing  theu^  hunger  with  this  not 
very  luxurious  repast.  The  Pharisees,  who  devoured  widows* 
houses,  who  made  broad  their  phylacteries  and  exacted  hom- 
age, who  preferred  ceremony  to  sacrifice,  and  typical  rites 
to  whatsoever  things  are  just,  and  true,  and  lovely,  and  of 
good  report  —  that  is,  of  real  and  everlasting  excellence  — 
these  Pharisees,  murmured  saying,  '•'  Why  do  ye  that  which 
is  not  lawful  to  do  on  the  Sabbath  days  ?  "  Now,  we  have 
in  this  very  fact  a  striking  proof  of  ^vhat  has  always  been 
the  case.  Where  men  are  excessively  attached  to  the  cere- 
monials of  religion,  they  are  found  very  often  —  not  always 
—  A'ery  lax  in  their  observance  of  the  morality  of  religion. 
The  tendency  of  the  human  heart  is  to  make  ceremony  take 
the  place  of  morality,  and  to  fancy  that  a  rigid  adherence 
to  the  one  is  a  suflicient  compensation,  or  atonement,  for  a 
very  lax  observance  of  the  ot])er.  The  Pharisees  murmured. 
3*  (89^ 


90  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

They  were  more  strict  in  tlieir  observance  of  the  lighter 
matters  of  the  law;  but  lax  in  their  observance  of  those 
weightier  matters  of  the  law,  which  alone  are  beautiful  in 
the  sight  of  God,  and  of  value  to  mankind  ;  and  the  observ- 
ance of  which  is  the  end  of  the  ceremony  ;  not  the  ceremony 
a  substitute  for  them,  or  a  compensation  for  the  neglect  and 
non-observance  of  it. 

These   Pharisees  therefore,  seeing  a  favorite  ceremony 
violated,  as  they  thought,  w^ere  furious.     If  they  had  seen  a 
moral  law  trodden  underfoot,  they  would  have  looked  upon 
it  with  great  indulgence  or  complacency.    They  therefore  said, 
"  Why  do  ye  that  which  is  not  lawful  to  do  on  the  Sabbath 
days  ?  "     Then  Jesus  answered  them,  "  Have  you  not  heard 
of  that  remarkable  case,  that  David,  when  he  was  hungry, 
ate  even  of  the  shewbread" — that  is,  the  consecrated  bread, 
or,  as  we  should  say,  the  sacramental  bread,  that  remained 
in  the  temple  upon  the  table  that  was  before  the  mercy-seat 
and  the  holy  of  holies  —  "  David,  when  he  was  hungry,  ate 
of  that."     Well,  what  does  that  prove  ?     That  wdiat  seems 
to  be  a  breach  of  the  Sabbath  is  not  always  a  breach  of  the 
Sabbath.    All  w^orks  of  necessity  and  of  mercy  are  excepted : 
and  wdiatever  one  can  show  to  be  mercy  to  the  poor,  or 
necessity  in  his  own  case,  provided  it  be  not  otherwise  sin- 
ful, he  is  justified  in  doing  though  it  be  on  the  Sabbath  day ; 
because   mercy  is  greater  than    sacrifice,  and  morality  is 
higher  than  ceremonial  observance.     Our  Lord  thus  shows 
that  if  there  be  an  extreme  in  society  who  would  desecrate 
the  Sabbath,  there  is  an  opposite  extreme  who  would  idolize 
the  Sabbath.     The  Sabbath  must  not  be  placed  in  the  room 
of  other  duties  of  the  law.     The  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
is  no  reason  for  neglecting  those  equally  obligatory  duties 
that  devolve  upon  us  in  the  providence  of  God,  or  neglecting 
that  mercy  wliich,  both  upon  the  Sabbath  day  and  upon  all 
days,  we  ouglit  to  exercise  towards  each  other  in  cases  of 
sorrow  or  suffering.     And  he  states,  that  he  himself  was 


LUKE  vr.  91 

competent  to  decide  wliat  tlie  Sabbatli  was,  and  wliat  its 
duties  are,  for  he  is  Lord  of  the  Sabbath. 

After  this  he  entered  into  the  synagogue,  and  there  hap- 
pened to  be  there,  in  the  providence  of  God,  a  man  who  had 
a  withered  hand.  "  The  scribes  and  the  Pharisees  watched 
him."  That  would  seem  to  show  that  they  knew  that 
Avliercver  there  was  suffering  to  be  relieved,  there  Jesus 
would  be  found  ready  to  give  succor ;  and  seeing  a  man 
with  a  withered  hand  draw  near  to  Jesus  in  the  temple,  and 
well  knowing  that  he  was  ever  ready  to  help  them  that  were 
truly  needful  of  that  help,  they  watched  him  to  see  whether 
he  would  heal  this  man  on  the  Sabbath  day  —  not  that  they 
might  glorify  God,  or  see  in  him  the  credentials  of  his  holy 
mission  ;  but  for  the  malignant  and  wicked  end  "  that  they 
might  find  an  accusation  against  him."  "  But,"  it  is  added, 
"  he  knew  their  thoughts."  He  is  the  searcher  of  hearts  : 
"  Thou  hast  searched  me  and  known  me  ;  thou  knowest  my 
rising  up  and  my  sitting  down:"  and  he  that  was  Lord  of 
tlie  Sabbath  shows  by  this  single  allusion  that  he  was  also 
the  searcher  of  the  human  heart  —  "  He  knew  their  thoughts, 
and  said  to  the  man  which  had  the  withered  hand"  —  just 
as  if  they  had  no  thoughts  upon  the  subject  at  all  —  "  Rise 
up,  and  stand  forth  in  the  midst.  And  he  arose  and  stood 
forth."  We  have  here  a  striking  proof  that  we  are  not  to 
neglect  duty  because  it  may  be  misconstrued ;  but  we  are  to 
do  what  is  right,  whatever  be  the  thoughts  of  men  that  are 
around  us :  we  have  only  to  do  with  our  duty  in  the  sight 
of  God ;  we  have  nothing  to  do,  at  least  as  far  as  that  duty 
is  concerned,  with  the  misrepresentations  and  misapprehen- 
sions of  men.  He  regarded  their  thoughts  as  if  they  had 
no  such  thoughts,  and  proceeded  to  heal  the  man  with  the 
withered  hand ;  doing  what  was  right,  and  leaving  all  man- 
kind to  justify  him,  or  the  reverse.  "  Then  said  Jesus  unto 
them,  I  will  ask  you  one  thing ;  Is  it  lawful  on  the  Sabbath 
days  to  do  good  "  —  that  you  must  admit  —  "  or  to  do  evil  ?'* 


92  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

—  that,  of  course,  you  will  deny.  "  Is  it  lawful  to  save 
life  —  that,  of  course,  you  will  not  dispute  —  "or  is  it  lawful 
to  destroy  it  ?  "  —  that,  of  course,  you  will  deny  also.  Well, 
then,  if  it  be  never  lawful  to  destroy  life,  nor  to  do  evil  — 
and  to  do  evil  is  to  omit  an  opportunity  of  doing  good  — 
then  why  must  I  be  prevented  from  doing  good  because  it 
happens'to  be  the  Sabbath  day  ?  "  And  looking  round  about 
upon  them  all,  he  said  unto  the  man,  Stretch  forth  thy  hand. 
And  he  did  so :  and  his  hand  was  restored  whole  Jis  the 
other."  And  therefore,  on  the  Sabbath  day,  you  are  bound 
to  attend  to  the  ordinary  claims  of  nature ;  if  you  meet  the 
poor  and  the  destitute  on  your  way,  you  are  bound  to  ad- 
minister to  his  wants  ;  if  you  know  of  a  friend  or  a  relative 
on  a  sick-bed,  go  and  sympathize  with  him ;  if  you  know  an 
opportunity  of  doing  substantial  good,  it  is  your  duty  to  do 
it ;  and,  instead  of  being  inconsistent  with  the  sacredness  of 
the  Sabbath,  it  is  the  very  first  duty  that  you  owe  to  the 
Lord  of-  the  Sabbath,  who  loveth  mercy  rather  than  sacri- 
fice. Whatever,  then,  can  be  shown  to  be  a  work  of  neces- 
sity must  be  done ;  or  a  message  of  mercy,  it  ought  to  be 
said ;  and  to  urge,  It  is  the  Sabbath  day,  is  no  excuse  for 
neglecting  the  one,  or  being  silent  about  the  other. 

But  mark,  now,  how  they  felt — "And  they  were  filled 
with  madness."  Now,  is  not  tliis  very  strange?  They 
venerated  the  Sabbath,  they  worshipped  on  the  Sabbath, 
they  attended  to  their  physical  wants  on  the  Sabbath ; 
and  yet  when  Jesus  did  good,  which  was  in  perfect  harmony, 
we  are  told  that  "  they  were  filled  with  madness."  How 
greatly  corrupted  must  human  nature  be.  Here  was  a 
miracle  that  proved  the  presence  of  divinity,  and  human 
nature  would  not  listen  to  it ;  here  was  a  miracle  of  such 
beneficence  and  power  that  they  ought  to  have  exclaimed, 
unanimously  — "  This  is  the  saving  power  of  God  !  "  and 
yet  they  were  filled  with  madness  —  madness  because  he 
had  shown. he  was  God:  because  he  had,  according  to  their 


LUKE    VI.  93 

ideas,  desecrated  their  Pharisaic  Sabbath ;  madness  because 
lie  had  justified  his  claims  to  be  the  Light  to  lighten  the 
Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  his  people  Israel. 

"  It  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  that  he  went  out  into  a 
mountain  to  pray,  and  continued  all  night  in  prayer  to 
God."  This  means  that  he  continued  in  prayer  all  night ; 
but  some  think  that  the  proper  idea  is,  that  he  continued  in 
a  place  of  prayer  all  night ;  but  surely  the  interpretation  is 
perfectly  reasonable,  and  according  to  what  we  should  con- 
ceive of  our  blessed  Lord,  that  he  continued  all  night  in 
prayer.  The  mere  Unitarian,  who  denies  the  deity  of  Jesus, 
will  ask  you  as  he  reads  such  a  text  as  this  —  Why  did 
Jesus  pray  to  God,  if  he  was  God  ?  I  would  just  ask  him 
another  question  —  Why  did  Jesus  eat  ?  why  did  he  sleep  ? 
why  was  he  weary?  why  did  he  lie  down?  why  did  he 
rest  ?  The  fact  that  he  ate,  that  he  slept,  that  he  lay  down, 
that  he  wept,  that  he  was  weary,  is  the  evidence  that  he  was 
man ;  and  the  fact  that  he  prayed,  is  the  evidence  that  he 
was  a  creature.  We  never  deny  that  Jesus  was  man. 
When  the  Unitarian  asks  us  —  How  can  you  reconcile  this  ? 
We  answer  —  Every  thing  that  man  is,  every  thing  that  man 
does,  sin  excepted,  Jesus  was,  and  Jesus  did ;  and  if  JesuB 
had  not  prayed,  if  he  had  not  wept,  and  been  weary,  and 
lain  down,  and  slept,  he  would  be  God ;  but  there  would  be 
wanting  the  strongest  evidence  that  he  was  man.  My  dear 
friends,  it  is  as  precious  a  truth  to  us  that  Jesus  was  man, 
as  it  is  that  Jesus  was  God.  As  he  is  God,  he  is  able  to 
save  me ;  but  as  he  was  man  he  can  enter  into  all  my  sor- 
rows, and  sympathize  with  me  in  all  my  sufferings,  for  he 
has  entered  into  all  the  intricacies  of  human  nature :  he 
knoweth  our  frame.  He  is  the  Great  High-Priest,  able  to 
succor  them  that  are  tempted ;  because  he  himself  was 
tempted  also.  And  it  is  a  very  singular  fact,  in  reference 
to  this  subject,  that  when  the  Unitarian  speaks  against  the 
deity  of  Christ,  as  if  not  clearly  taught,  he  forgets  that  the 


94  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

great  object  of  tlie  Gospel  was  to  prove  that  Christ  was 
man.  In  the  days  of  our  Lord,  none  who  knew  what  the 
Messiah  was,  doubted  tliat  he  was  God  ;  the  great  (h)ubt 
was,  Is  he  man  ?  They  had  no  doubt  that  lie  was  God ; 
but  their  great  difficulty  was,  Is  he  man  ?  And  therefore 
the  Gospel  was  to  show  that  the  Word  was  made  flesh, 
that  God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh,  and  that  we  beheld  his 
glory  as  the  glory  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full 
of  grace  and  of  truth.  It  is  quite  as  essential  that  Jesus 
should  have  been  man,  as  that  Jesus  should  have  been  God ; 
and  we  say  to  the  Unitarian  at  once.  Every  text  you  quote, 
from  the  commencement  of  Matthew  to  the  end  of  the 
Apocalypse,  that  ascribes  a  human  nature  to  Jesus,  we  set 
our  seal  to,  and  subscribe  to  as  most  true.  But  then,  we 
ask  you  not  to  stop  with  the  examination  of  those  texts; 
but  begin  again  at  Matthew  and  go  on  to  the  Ajiocalypse, 
and  you  will  find  texts  as  decided,  as  clear  that  Jesus  was 
God.  And  we  ask  you  on  the  same  authority  on  which  you 
uphold  his  manhood  to  uphold  his  deity,  and  to  believe  that 
he  was  also  very  God,  whom  angels  worship,  and  in  Vr'hom 
all  believing  men  put  their  confidence  and  eternal  tiusl. 

We  next  read  of  his  selection  of  the  apostles,  who  are 
here  named  —  Simon,  and  Andrew,  and  James,  and  John^ 
and  the  others.  The  word  ''  apostle  "  means,  a  person  sent, 
that  is  all ;  and  these  twelve  persons  he  sent  out  to  preach 
the  truth,  and  therefore  he  called  them  '•  sent  persons,"  or. 
as  we  call  them,  apostles. 

We  then  read  of  the  discourse  that  he  preached  on  this 
occasion.  There  has  been  a  great  dilficulty  as  to  whether 
this  be  the  same  as  Matt.  v.  I  think  it  is.  It  does  not  say 
that  he  preached  this  sermon  in  the  plain  ;  but  it  states  iji 
the  17th  verse  —  "And  he  came  down  with  them,  and  stood 
in  the  plain,  and  the  company  of  his  disciples,  and  a  great 
multitude  of  people  out  of  all  Judea  and  Jerusalem,  and 
from  the  sea-coast  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  which  came  to  hear 


LUKE    VI.  95 

him,  and  to  be  healed  of  their  di.^eases ;  and  they  that  were 
vexed  with  unclean  spirits  ;  and  they  were  healed."  Then, 
after  that,  it  says,  "  And  he  lifted  up  his  eyes  on  his  disci- 
ples, and  said."  But,  in  the  interval  that  elapsed  betAveen 
these  two  events,  he  may  have  stationed  himself,  as  was  his 
wont,  upon  the  mountain  side ;  and  from  that  mountain  pul- 
pit he  may  have  preached  that  beautiful  discourse  that  is 
here  given.  But  you  naturally  observe,  that  this  cannot  be 
the  same  discourse  as  that  given  in  Matthew,  because  the 
expressions  that  are  used  in  this  chapter  are  considerably 
different.  But  Matthew  may  have  given  what  are  called 
the  ipsissima  verba  —  the  exact  words  of  Jesus  ;  and  Luke 
may  have  been  equally  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  re- 
cord what  Jesus  said,  if  not  always  in  the  very  words,  yet 
always  the  substance,  the  thought,  the  idea.  Now,  that 
Avhich  is  real  and  lasting  is  the  idea.  The  language  is  no 
more  to  an  idea  than  clothing  is  to  the  human  body ;  the 
clothing  may  vary  in  its  color  or  its  shape,  but  the  wearer 
is  the  same ;  so  the  phraseology  may  vary,  but  the  idea  is 
the  same.  I  may  take  a  text,  and  preach  from  that  text 
three  or  four  times  in  succession,  and  I  will  state  to  you  al- 
most the  very  same  ideas,  and  yet  I  will  clothe  them  on  each 
occasion  in  different  language  ;  the  discourse  is  the  same, 
the  drapery  is  varied,  and  that  is  all  the  difference.  So 
our  blessed  Lord  spoke  the  discourse  recorded  in  Matt.  v. 
Matthew's  may  be  the  very  words ;  they  look  as  if  they 
were  the  exact  echo  of  the  utterance  of  Jesus.  Then  Avhat 
Luke  has  given  may  be  the  very  thoughts,  but  not  the  very 
words ;  and  the  same  Holy  Spirit  who  inspired  Matthew  to 
record  the  ipsissima  verba,  inspired  Luke  to  give  the  sub- 
stance, or  an  epitome  of  the  discourse,  without  giving  the 
very  words  in  which  that  discourse  was  preached.  And  be- 
sides, you  know  quite  well  —  and  this  is  one  of  the  proofs 
of  the  reality,  the  authenticity,  and  the  genuineness  of  this 
gospel  —  if  you  were  to  hear  one  preach,  and  if  twenty 


96  SCRIPTURE    HEADINGS. 

hearers  were  each  to  give  separately,  and  from  recollection, 
an  account  of  what  he  said,  one  would  give  one  thought  that 
struck  him  most  forcibly,  another  would  give  another  thought 
that  struck  him  most  forcibly ;  but  each  would  give  a  very 
fair  resume  of  what  the  preacher  said,  though  it  would  be 
found  that  one  would  make  prominent  one  point,  and  another 
would  make  prominent  another  point,  and  each  would  clothe 
these  thoughts,  not  in  the  very  words  that  the  preacher  used, 
but  in  what  seemed  to  him  to  be  best  suited  for  the  idea,  and 
to  make  it  clearest  to  his  own  and  another's  mind.  When 
God  raised  up  apostles  and  evangelists,  he  did  not  make 
insensible  machmes  of  them,  but  he  made  inspired  men  of 
them  —  he  enabled  them  to  record  tlie  ideas  that  they  heard 
in  the  words  that  seemed  to  them  best ;  and  yet  those  apos- 
tles were  so  guided  and  inspired,  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God, 
that  they  have  conveyed  in  the  best  formulas  the  truths  of 
heaven ;  and  these  formulas  are,  however  varied,  always 
the  inspiration  and  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 
Now,  instead  of  this  being  an  argument  against  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Scriptures,  it  is  in  favor  of  it.  God  does  not  de- 
stroy in  the  apostles  and  evangelists  their  idiosyncrasy,  but 
he  so  inspires  each  apostle's  idiosyncrasy  that  each  in  his 
own  way,  but  all  guided  by  the  same  Spirit,  records  the 
wonderful  works  in  the  wonderful  words  of  God  himself. 
Nobody  that  reads  the  New  Testament  can  hesitate  to  say 
that  the  elegant  and  beautiful  style  of  Luke,  in  the  opening 
of  his  Gospel,  is  as  different  as  possible  from  the  rude,  rug- 
ged, Hebraistic  Greek  of  St.  Matthew  ;  no  one  can  fail  to  see 
that  the  gushing  oratory  of  Paul  is  perfectly  distinct  from 
the  plain  matter-of-fact  and  sententious  statements  of  James. 
You  can  see  at  once  that  the  gentle  and  affectionate  John 
writes  in  a  way  totally  different  from  Peter.  And  yet  each 
writer  was  so  guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  that  while 
the  writer  was  not  destroyed  or  extinguished  as  an  individ- 
ual, he  was  guided  and  inspired  by  the  same  Holy  Spirit  as 


LUKE    VI.  97 

an  evangelist,  or  an  apo.-tle.  The  Spirit  made  use  of  John's 
style,  and  Peter's  style,  and  James's  style,  and  Luke's  style, 
and  Matthew's  style,  and  made  each  and  all  the  combined 
harmony  of  truth,  and  the  vehicles  of  instruction  to  the  igno- 
rant of  mankind. 

Thus,  when  we  look  at  this  discourse  here  preached,  we 
find  it  very  different  in  words,  but  the  sense  you  will  find 
is  the  same.  "  Blessed  be  ye  poor  :  for  yours  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven."  Well,  that  is  almost  exactly  the  same, 
only  in  Matthew  it  is,  "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit ; "  and 
it  evidently  means  here,  "  Blessed  are  ye  poor,"  in  a  moral 
sense :  because  a  poor  man,  simply  as  such,  is  no  nearer 
heaven  than  a  rich  man.  Poverty  and  riches  are  merely 
the  circumstantials  ;  there  may  be  a  bad  man  under  a  ragged 
coat,  and  there  may  be  a  saint  under  the  imperial  purple. 
Mere  poverty  is  not  a  passport  to  heaven ;  mere  wealth  is 
not  an  absolute  barrier  to  heaven.  It  is  plain,  therefore, 
that  this  poverty  is  that  of  those  who  are  poor  in  spirit,  or 
si^iritually  poor. 

"  Blessed  are  ye  that  hunger  now."  In  Matthew  it  is, 
"  Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and  thirst  after  right- 
eousness, for  they  shall  be  filled."  And  so  again,  "  Blessed 
are  ye  that  weep  now :  for  ye  shall  laugh."  It  is  in  Mat- 
thew, "  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn :  for  they  shall  be  com- 
forted." Again,  "  Blessed  are  ye,  when  men  shall  hate  you, 
and  when  they  shall  separate  you  from  their  company,  and 
shall  reproach  you,  and  cast  out  your  name  as  evil,  for  the 
Son  of  man's  sake.  Rejoice  ye  in  that  day,  and  leap  for 
joy :  for,  behold,  your  reward  is  great  in  heaven."  In  pro- 
portion as  moral  character  becomes  clear,  definite,  sharply 
defined,  in  the  same  proportion  will  the  world  hate  it,  and 
therefore  such  persons  so  persecuted  give  evidence  of  their 
belonging  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  "  Woe  unto  you  that 
are  rich  !  for  ye  have  received  your  consolation.  Woe  unto 
you  that  are  full !  for  we  shall  hunger  "  —  that  is,  they  who 
9 


98  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

are  ricli  and  increased  in  goods,  and  want  nothing,  that  is 
the  worst  condition  or  crime  of  all. 

"  Woe  unto  you,  when  all  men  shall  speak  well  of  you ! " 
"What  a  solemn  rebuke  is  that  to  the  aspirant  for  earthly 
honors.  It  is  often  humbling  to  see  man  clutching  at  such 
trifles.  I  always  regard  it,  when  a  minister  of  the  Gospel 
preaches  fliithfully,  as  one  of  the  signs  that  he  does  so,  that 
some  persons  speak  ill  of  him.  It  is  a  bad  sign  if  every- 
body should  go  away  pleased  —  the  worklly,  the  sensual, 
the  learned,  the  tasteful  —  if  they  should  all  go  away  pleased, 
it  would  be  a  very  equivocal  sign  indeed ;  but  when  they 
speak  ill  of  him  —  when  they  say,  "  That  offends  good  taste  ; 
that  is  contrary  to  our  feelings ;  that  is  a  very  rigid  religion  ; 
that  is  a  very  severe  doctrine ;  we  do  not  like  that ;  we  like 
smooth  things ;  peace,  peace  ;  "  then  that  is  a  sign  that  he  is 
only  doing  Avhat  becomes  him  to  do  —  speaking  the  whole 
truth.  And  yet  it  is  desirable  that  everybody  should  speak 
well  of  one.  I  should  like  that  every  man  living  should 
speak  well  of  me,  and  none  speak  ill  of  me ;  but  then,  if  I 
heard  around  me  the  voice  of  flattery  and  praise,  I  should 
begin  to  examine  my  conscience,  my  religion,  my  preaching, 
my  living,  and  to  feel  that  there  must  be  something  wrong 
to  provoke  the  applause  and  the  eclat  of  the  mass  of  man- 
kind. 

He  then  bids  us  love  our  enemies  —  ''unto  him  that 
smiteth  thee  on  the  one  cheek  offer  also  the  other;  and  him 
that  taketh  away  thy  cloak  forbid  not  to  take  thy  coat  also." 
This,  of  course,  requires  to  be  received  with  some  reserva- 
tion ;  it  is  to  be  taken  in  such  a  sense  as  this  —  "  Labor  not 
for  the  meat  that  perisheth,  but  for  that  which  endureth  to 
everlasting  life."  That  does  not  mean  that  men  are  not  to 
work  for  their  bread  ;  but  it  means  that  they  are  not  so  to 
work  for  the  meat  that  perisheth  that  they  lose  all  thoughts 
about  the  bread  that  endureth  to  life  everlasting.  So  here, 
if  a  robber  meet  you  in  the  streets,  and  if  he  take  your  great 


LUKE    VI.  99 

coat,  or  your  upper  coat,  surely  it  would  not  be  in  the  spirit 
of  the  Gospel  if  you  were  to  give  him  your  under  coat  also. 
"What  it  means  is,  submit  to  very  great  inconvenience  rather 
than  go  to  law  ;  lose  a  little  rather  than  lose  the  peace  of  your 
hearts.  Our  Lord,  therefore,  says  to  those  who  are  in  the 
habit  of  contumaciously  wrestling  and  fighting  about  trifles 
—  Do  not  quarrel ;  pay  with  both  hands  rather  than  go  to 
law.  It  is  far  cheaper  to  pay  at  first,  than  it  is  to  go  to  lav/ 
even  when  you  are  certain  that  you  are  right.  Not  that  I 
think  it  is  sinful  to  go  to  law.  In  heathen  times,  it  was  sin- 
ful for  Christians  to  drag  one  another  before  a  heathen  judge ; 
but  in  our  country  judges  are,  some  of  them  personally,  ail  of 
them  judicially,  Christians.  Our  courts  of  law,  at  least  con-^ 
stitutionally,  are  based  upon  Christian  principles  ;  and  I  do 
not  think  there  is  any  sin  whatever  in  two  persons  that  can- 
not agree  about  the  settlement  of  something  in  dispute,  ap- 
plying to  the  Christian  judge,  and  getting  that  judge's  decis- 
ion upon  the  question  about  which  they  are  at  issue. 


CHAPTER   VI.    47-49. 


THE    GREAT   END  —  TWO  PLANS — VARIOUS   GROUNDS   OF  HOPE  AND 
TRUST. 

"We  have  here,  in  the  last  words  of  the  chapter  we  have 
read,  two  most  remarkable  and  expressive  contrasts ;  the  one 
being  a  foundation  utterly  opposed  to  the  foundation  of  the 
other.  But  there  are  certain  points  in  which  the  two  parties 
agree,  whilst  in  one  most  vital  and  material  point  they  to- 
tally differ.  Both  felt  the  necessity  of  something  beyond, 
or  above,  or  superior  to  the  earth,  that  should  give  them  a 
refuge  and  a  shelter  while  in  it ;  and  with  this  desire  and 
feeling  they  resolved  to  raise  —  each  for  his  shelter,  his 
refuge,  and  retreat  —  a  building,  or  house,  into  which  the 
rains  and  the  winds  should  not  penetrate,  and  under  whose 
hospitable  roof-tree  there  should  be  a  rest,  and.  peace,  and 
quiet,  as  they  expected,  for  many  days  to  come.  Both  felt 
that  something  else  was  needed  beyond  what  nature,  or  God 
in  nature,  had  given  them ;  both,  therefore,  began  to  build 
an  edifice;  both  engaged  in  the  same  work,  —  the  remedy 
they  contemplated  was  the  same,  —  the  end  they  had  in 
view  was  the  same,  —  the  means  they  adopted  to  obtain  that 
end  were  substantially  the  same ;  both  prosecuted  their 
plans,  both  succeeded  in  bringing  their  work  to  a  conclusion, 
and  both  saw  the  houses  built,  the  roof  on,  and  all  the  requi- 
sites of  comfort  and  happiness  and  rest  for  many  years  satis- 
factorily provided  for  them. 

But  each  work,  we  leai*n  from  this  j^art  of  our  Lord's  par- 

(100) 


LUKE    VI.  101 

able,  had  to  be  submitted  to  an  ordeal.  Winds  were  to  blow- 
in  the  future,  as  they  had  blown  in  the  past,  —  the  rains 
were  to  descend,  and  the  mountain  torrents  to  rush  past  the 
foundations  of  both  buildings  ;  and  then  would  be  seen  which 
of  the  two  buildings  was  founded  upon  a  rock,  and  which 
was  founded  only  on  the  sand.  But  up  to  this  point,  you 
will  observe  that  both  were  perfectly  the  same.  Each  was 
equally  confident  that  he  was  safe,  and  each  looked  forward 
to  the  coming  year  with  perfect  certainty,  or  at  least  with  a 
reasonable  expectation  that  nothing  would  materially  or 
vitally  injure  his  erection. 

But  amid  all  this  certainty,  there  was  in  the  edifice  of  the 
one  that  which  was  an  element  of  perpetuity,  and  at  the 
very  foundation  of  the  edifice  of  the  other  —  invisible,  It 
might  be,  to  the  outward  eye  —  were  all  the  elements  of  ruin 
and  of  decay.  One  buiider  was  quite  satisfied  to  build  upon 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  supposing  thoughtlessly  that  no 
storm  would  overtake  him,  and  no  torrent  rush  past  him,  ad- 
equate the  one  to  overturn  it,  or  the  other  to  undermine  it ; 
but  the  other  builder  had  a  presentiment  of  coming  ordeal 
that  would  put  to  the  test  the  strongest  structures  In  the 
earth,  and,  in  the  well-founded  belief  that  •  heavy  winds 
would  blow,  and  deep  and  violent  currents  would  set  past 
him,  dug  downwards  in  the  earth  till  he  found  the  solid  and 
the  everlasting  rock,  and  built  his  house  upon  tliat  rock,  and 
then  quietly  waited  all  that  was  to  come. 

Now  these  two  persons  are  two  types  of  different  Chris- 
tian characters.  One  builds  upon  what  Is  the  nearest,  and 
to  him  a  plausible  enough  foundation,  but  utterly  insufficient, 
because  he  has  no  adequate  apprehension  of  tiie  ordeal  of 
the  judgment-day;  he  has  no  clear  conviction  of  the  exac- 
tions of  the  law,  —  no  just  view  of  the  holiness,  the.  justice, 
and  the  faithfulness  of  God ;  and,  thinking  that  he  Is  to  deal 
with  a  judgment  that  will  connive  at  much  that  is  evil,  and 
that  he  is  to  meet  a  God  who  Is  very  much  like  himself,  and 
9* 


102  SCKIPTUKE    HEADINGS. 

will  overlook  miicli  that  is  sinful,  whilst  he  will  take  large 
notice  of  much  that  is  supposed  good,  —  thinking  in  this 
way,  he  was  quite  sure  that  a  very  slight  foundation  would 
be  quite  sufficient  to  bear  the  stress  and  the  pressure  of  a 
very  slight  ordeal  through  which  he  had  to  pass.  But  the 
other  feels  that  he  has  to  meet  a  God  whose  hand  "  will  lay 
judgment  to  the  line,  and  righteousness  to  the  plummet;" 
he  feels  and  knows  that  he  must  present  at  the  judgment-day 
a  righteousness  perfect,  spotless,  without  blemish,  made  over 
to  him ;  and  that  therefore,  unless  he  lays  the  stress  of  his 
hopes  and  his  prospects  upon  something  that  will  stand,  his 
superstructure,  however  fair  it  may  look  in  the  sunshine,  or 
however  plausible  it  may  seem  to  the  uninstructed  eye,  will 
inevitably  at  that  day,  and  subjected  to  that  great  ordeal, 
become  one  mighty  mass  of  ruin.  The  former,  having  no 
just  apprehension  of  God's  law,  of  God's  character,  of  a 
judgment-seat,  of  the  nature  of  the  Saviour,  lays  a  founda- 
tion correspondingly:  the  other,  having  a  just  apprehension 
of  what  God  is,  what  God  demands,  what  his  law  requires, 
seeks  out  and  happily  settles  on  a  foundation  which,  on  good 
authority  and  from  the  best  of  information,  he  knows  to  be 
adequate  to  bear  the  superstructure  that  will  be  built  upon 
it,  in  all  states  of  weather  —  in  sunshine  or  in  storm,  in 
summer  or  in  winter.  The  one  building  looked  as  beautiful 
as  the  other  while  the  sunbeams  shone  upon  them :  it  was 
only  when  the  winds  began  to  beat,  and  the  rains  to  descend, 
and  the  mountain  torrents  to  rush  past,  that  the  one,  however 
beautiful  its  architecture,  however  exquisite  its  symmetry,  fell 
down ;  and  the  other,  however  plain  its  superstructure  and 
unartistic  its  decorations,  however  unlikely  to  stand  to  the 
eye  of  the  gazer,  remained  for  this  reason  only  —  that  it  was 
founded  upon  a  rock. 

Every  one  of  us  is  building  for  a  world  to  come.  We  all, 
more  or  less  keenly,  gaze  into  the  future  —  we  all  are  anx- 
ious to  decipher  it  —  we  are  all  making,  some  a  more  slen- 


LUKE    VI.  103 

der,  others  a  more  solid  and  a  more  solemn,  preparation  for 
what  awaits  us  in  that  future.  Each  man  is  a  builder  upon 
something  —  every  man  is  making  some  preparation  for  fu- 
turity :  it  depends  upon  the  nature  of  the  foundation  on 
which  he  builds,  what  shall  be  the  issue,  ruin  or  restoration, 
—  whether  he  shall  appear  in  the  general  assembly  of  the 
first-born,  or  be  among  them  to  whom  Christ  will  say,  "  De- 
part from  me  :  I  never  knew  you." 

Let  us  inquire  what  are  some  of  the  false,  but  plausible 
grounds,  on  which  men  build.  Some  are  building  their 
hopes,  their  prospects,  their  certainty,  and  their  assurance  of 
future  happiness,  upon  what  they  have  done  and  what  they 
are.  They  do  not  see  that  the  law  demands  an  infinite  obe- 
dience ;  and  therefore  they  are  satisfied  that  the  mutilated 
obedience  they  may  be  able  to  render  is  quite  sufficient  to 
cover  all  the  demands  and  the  exactions  of  the  law.  They 
do  not  feel  that  one  breach  of  God's  law  is  in  God's  sight 
equivalent  in  principle  to  the  breach  of  all ;  they  do  not  feel 
that  God  will  require  at  a  judgment-seat  of  each  and  of  all 
the  same  perfect,  faultless,  spotless  righteousness  that  he  re- 
quired of  Adam  in  Paradise  before  he  fell ;  and  not  seeing 
this,  they  think  that  they  are  good  enough  to  meet  God's  re- 
quirements, that  they  have  a  righteousness  quite,  sufficient  to 
stand  the  test  of  a  judgment  morn,  —  they  believe  that  by 
deeds  of  law  they  will  be  justified,  —  they  think  their  right- 
eousness is  good  enough  for  God,  —  they  hope  that  he  will 
overlook  defects,  that  he  will  magnify  excellences,  and  thus 
that  they  shall  be  able,  amid  the  glories  of  the  blessed,  not 
to  give  the  undivided  tribute  of  their  j)raise  unto  the  Lamb 
that  redeemed  them,  but  some  portion  of  the  mighty  stream 
to  their  own  excellence,  their  own  worth,  their  own  triumphs, 
their  own  strength,  and  their  own  right  hand.  My  dear 
friends,  it  is  written,  "  By  deeds  of  law  "  —  however  excel- 
lent they  may  be  —  "  no  flesh  can  be  justified."  Li  other 
words,  translated  into  the  language  of  my  text,  "  On  a  foun- 


104  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

dation  laid  by  ourselves,  —  however  plausible  it  may  seem, 
however  beautiful  it  may  appear,  —  no  su[)crstructure  that 
we  can  rear  will  ever  be  able  to  stand  at  that  day." 

But  others,  again,  are  building  on  then-  connection  with 
some  Church  or  visible  creed,  and  they  say,  "I  must  be 
right,  for  I  am  connected  with  an  orthodox  Church,  —  I 
have  been  propcrl}-^  baptized,  —  I  am  a  communicant,  —  I 
attend  every  Sabbath  twice  a  day  upon  the  worship  of  God, 
—  and  surely  I  am  doing  all  that  can  fairly  be  required ; 
and  on  this  I  will  build  my  hopes  and  prospects  of  joy  in  the 
world  to  come."  The  answer  to  all  this  is,  that  nowhere  in 
the  Bible  is  it  stated  that  a  Church  is  the  foundation  of  our 
hopes ;  Vv-e  are  not  to  be  saved  in  the  name  of  a  Church :  it 
is  no  more  saving  to  go  to  a  church  than  it  is  to  go  to  a  thea- 
tre, however  relatively  different;  because  neither  the  one 
nor  the  other  is  ordained  by  God  to  be  the  way  to  heaven. 
It  is  not  said  that  it  is  in  the  name  of  the  Church  that  our 
sins  are  forgiven,  —  it  is  not  said  that  the  Church  died  for 
us ;  but  it  is  said  that  he  is  not  a  Jew  who  is  one  outwardly; 
and  it  is  said  that  many  will  appear  at  that  day,  saying, 
"  Lord,  Lord,  we  have  eaten  in  thy  presence,  and  in  thy 
name  have  done  many  wonderful  works : "  and  he  will  say 
to  those  professors  —  loud,  consistent  professors,  fair  profes- 
sors, seemingly  as  good  and  as  excellent  as  the  most  sainted 
that  live,  "  Depart."  They  have  this  great  defect,  they  want 
the  real  foundation,  and  they  are  building  upon  the  shifting 
sand,  instead  of  resting  where  the  superstructure  of  a  world's 
hopes  may  repose  in  security  —  upon  the  Rock  of  Ages ; 
and  the  whole  supei-structure,  therefore,  must  necessarily 
fall.  Whatever,  in  short,  be  the  ground  on  which  you  build 
for  heaven,  except  on  that  ground,  it  w  ill  fail  you  in  that 
day.  Let  us  ask  ourselves,  then,  my  dear  friends,  On  what 
are  we  building?  If  we  are  looking,  each  of  us,  for  happi- 
ness beyond  the  grave,  —  if  we  feel  as  we  gaze  into  the  fu- 
ture, when  dust  shall  return  to  the  dust,  and  the  spirit  goes 


LUKE    VI.  105 

to  be  dealt  with  by  the  God  that  gave  it,  that  there  is  some 
reason  why  we  expect  to  escape  the  condemnation  of  a  bro- 
ken law,  and  some  ground  on  which  we  can  stand  and  defy 
the  wind,  the  rain,  and  the  storm  that  will  test  every  edifice, 
and  put  to  the  proof  every  superstructure,  however  beauti- 
ful and  plausible  in  appearance,  however  seemingly  strong 
in  structure,  —  What  is  that  ground  ?  Where  is  it  ?  Will 
it  stand  ?  Are  we  sure  it  will  stand  ?  Is  it  the  ground  that 
God  has  chalked  out  ?  Is  it  the  foundation  that  he  has  laid  ? 
If  it  be  not,  it  matters  not  where  it  is,  nor  what  it  is,  the 
superstructure  will  fall ;  the  greater  its  height,  the  greater 
the  crash,  —  the  fairer  the  edifice,  the  sadder  the  sorrow  to 
gaze  on  its  inevitable  ruin. 

Where,  then,  is  the  foundation  ?  We  are  told  in  very  few 
but  very  decisive  words  by  one  who  is  said  by  some  to  have 
been  himself  the  foundation,  but  who  never  knew  it,  or  pro- 
fessed to  be  so,  but,  on  the  contrary,  like  a  true  apostle, 
points  to  him  that  is  so.  "  To  whom  coming,  as  unto  a  living 
stone,  disallowed  indeed  of  men,  but  chosen  of  God,  and 
precious,  ye  also,  as  lively  stones,  are  built  up  a  spiritual 
house,  an  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices, 
acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ.  Wherefore  also  it  is 
contained  in  the  Scripture,  Behold,  I  lay  in  Sion  a  chief 
corner-stone,  elect,  precious  ;  and  he  that  belie veth  on  him 
shall  not  be  confounded.  Unto  you  therefore  which  believe 
he  is  precious."  And  you  will  notice  here  that  Peter,  so  far 
from  regarding  himself  as  the  foundation,  seems  apparently 
altogether  ignorant  that  any  such  mighty  position  was  ever 
attributed  to  him ;  and  he  does  what  is  very  inconsistent  with 
the  creed  of  those  that  profess  to  regard  him  as  the  founda- 
tion ;  for  he  says,  "  It  is  said  in  Scripture  "  —  and  the  Scrip- 
ture to  which  he  refers  is  the  book  of  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
where  we  read,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  Behold,  I  lay  in 
Zion  for  a  foundation  a  stone,  a  tried  stone,  a  precious  stone, 
a  chief  corner-stone,  a  sure  foundation :  he  that  believeth 
shall  not  make  haste." 


106  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

We  have  seen,  then,  that  whatever  be  the  foundation  on 
wliich  you  raise  the  superstructure  of  your  hopes,  —  be  it 
tlie  green  grass,  be  it  the  sand,  be  it  the  earth,  be  it  hill  or 
valley,  —  it  matters  not ;  the  superstructure  must  fall  if  it 
be  raised  on  any  thing  in  the  height  or  any  thing  in  the 
depth  save  that  stone  or  rock  that  God  himself  has  laid  in 
Sion,  upon  which  you  are  to  build  the  superstructure  of  your 
hopes,  as  God  builds  tlie  superstructure  of  living  stones, 
pertjectly  satisfied  that  when  the  ordeal  comes  you  shall  not 
be  confounded,  the  edifice  shall  not  fall. 

Now,  how  is  this  foundation,  on  which  the  house  that  will 
stand  is  built,  described  ?  It  is  said  to  be,  first  of  all,  "  a 
tried  stone."  What  a  beautiful  epithet  is  that !  It  is  not 
a  stone  on  which  the  pressure  is  to  be  laid  for  the  first  time. 
We  know  that  machinery  is  first  tried  or  tested  —  it  is  then 
put  to  its  proper  use ;  and  after  it  has  thus  been  tested, 
they  say  that  it  is  not  an  untried  thing,  that  may  fail  on 
experiment,  but  it  is  a  tried  thing,  on  which  we  can  calcu- 
late as  able  to  stand  the  stress  that  is  laid  upon  it.  So 
this  stone  —  this  rock  —  that  is  laid,  and  on  w^hich  the 
builder  is  to  raise  the  superstructure  of  all  his  hopes,  has 
been  thoroughly  tried.  It  was  tried  by  God  himself;  he 
laid  the  pressure  of  a  Avorld's  transgressions  on  it;  it  de- 
scended to  the  grave,  but  it  rose  again,  and  is  now  at  God's 
right  hand.  It  was  tried  by  the  envy  of  Satan  ;  for  Satan 
came  to  him,  and  searched  him :  and  Jesus  himself  said  that 
"  he  hath  found  nothing  in  me."  It  has  been  tried  by  in- 
numerable crowds  of  believers  :  no  Christian  ever  rested  for 
acquittal  from  the  sentence  of  a  law  that  he  had  broken  — 
for  justification  in  the  siglit  of  a  God  that  he  had  offended  — 
on  Jesus  Christ  alone,  as  all  his  salvation  and  all  his  desire, 
and  yet  was  put  to  confusion.  The  foundation  is  strong ; 
and  the  superstructure  receives  from  the  foundation  a  por- 
tion of  its  strengtli,  its  perpetuity,  and  its  potency. 

Thus,  then,  we  build  on  a  stone  laid  in  Sion  that  has  been 


LUKE    VI.  107 

tried.  But  it  is  not  only  a  tried  stone,  —  it  is  also  called  "  a 
corner-stone."  The  corner-stone  still  embraces  tlie  two  sides 
of  the  building,  and  knits  into  one  walls  that  are  at  right 
angles  to  each  other.  The  corner-stone  was  ahvays  re- 
garded in  ancient  times  as  the  guiding  stone  of  the  whole 
superstructure  ;  it  was  also  beautifully  fashioned,  and  held 
to  be  the  most  valuable  stone.  Hence  the  expression  occurs 
in  the  Psalms,  "  Ye  corners  of  the  people "  —  that  is,  Ye 
chiefs  of  the  people.  And  Isaiah  says,  "I  have  cut  off-the 
corners  of  the  people."  And  in  an  Eastern  divan,  the  cor- 
ners are  occupied  by  the  chief  or  the  most  illustrious  per- 
sonages who  are  present.  And  when  the  Psalmist  would 
describe  the  daughters  of  Israel  as  the  most  beautiful  of  all, 
he  says  that  they  are  as  corner-stones.  In  the  corner-stone 
were  laid  up  coins,  and  medals,  and  precious  stones.  So, 
then,  Christ  is  all  this  to  the  believer  —  he  is  the  chief  of 
ten  thousand,  and  altogether  lovely  ;  he  is  the  sure  founda- 
tion on  which  he  leans  ;  in  him  are  all  the  treasures  of  God  ; 
and  to  a  believer  Jesus  Christ  is  all  —  his  wisdom,  his  right- 
eousness, his  sanctification,  and  his  salvation. 

But  Isaiah,  as  quoted  by  Peter,  calls  him  also  a  sure 
foundation.  It  is  no  vacillating  or  precarious  support ;  it  is 
not  the  sand  that  will  waste  by  the  wind  or  be  washed  away 
by  the  wave,  but  it  is  the  rock  that  God  selected,  that  God 
has  laid,  on  which  he  that  leans  the  hardest  will  have  the 
greatest  comfort  in  doing  so,  and  on  which  you  may  raise 
the  loftiest  superstructure  of  your  nearest  and  your  dearest 
hopes,  and  be  perfectly  satisfied  that  all  will  be  preserved 
safe  and  sure  against  that  day. 

And  also,  says  Isaiah,  he  is  precious  —  a  precious  stone. 
Why,  no  wonder  that  he  is  called  so  :  he  is  the  only  Being 
in  the  whole  universe  of  God  on  whom  a  believer  may  lean 
with  perfect  security,  and  be  never  disappointed  ;  and  he  is 
the  only  Being  in  the  whole  universe  of  God  on  wliom  any 
one  may  lean,  and  be  accepted,  justified,  acquitted,  and  for- 


108  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

given  at  that  day.  He  is  precious  in  the  estimate  of  God 
—  he  is  beyond  all  price  to  them  that  believe. 

Have  you,  therefore,  my  dear  friends,  come  to  him  ?  Do 
you  build  upon  him?  Is  he  your  only  foundation  ?  Can 
you  say,  I  dare  not  build  a  single  hope  or  expectation  upon 
any  thing  I  have  suffered,  upon  any  thing  I  have  done,  upon 
my  connection  with  a  Church,  my  participation  of  a  sacra- 
ment :  my  only  trust  is  in  Christ,  the  Rock  of  Ages  ;  and 
trusting  in  him,  I  know,  as  sure  as  that  there  is  a  God  in 
heaven  and  a  judgment-seat  before  me,  that  I  shall  never, 
never  be  confounded  ?  All  other  foundations,  however  plau- 
sible, are  but  as  the  wasting  sand ;  to  build  there  is  only  to 
make  the  final  desolation  more  bitter  and  intolerable ;  but 
this  foundation  has  been  built  upon  by  prophets,  by  patri- 
archs, by  apostles,  by  evangelists,  by  martyrs,  by  saints; 
and  not  one  ever  repented. upon  earth,  or  felt  himself  disap- 
pointed in  heaven. 

Let  us  then,  my  dear  friends,  build  upon  it  —  let  us  say 
what  we  feel,  "  I  look  for  heaven  only  because  Christ  is  my 
title  ;  I  look  for  pardon  only  because  Christ  died  for  me  ;  I 
expect  a  weight  of  glory  because  he  deserved  it  for  me. 
This  is  the  only  name  I  will  plead  —  this  the  only  right- 
eousness I  will  put  on  —  this  the  only  foundation  on  which 
I  -svill  build  —  this  the  only  object  of  my  expectations  and 
ray  hopes  ;  and  I  am  certain  that  he  is  able  to  keep  what  I 
have  committed  to  him  —  what  I  have  built  upon  him  —  till 
that  day." 


CHAPTER    VII. 

IHE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  FOR  ALL  —  THE  GOOD  SOLDIER  —  HIS 
FAITH — SOLDIERS  ARE  OFTEN  THE  VERY  BEST  CHRISTIANS  — 
EXTRAMURAL  INTERMENTS  —  THE  ONLY  SON  OF  A  WIDOW  — 
RAISING  OF  DEAD  SON — THE  SINNER  WOMAN — SERMONS — DIFFI- 
CULTIES—  SIN    FORGIVEN. 

The  truly  beautiful  chapter  I  have  read  is  so  full  of  in- 
structive lessons  and  incidents,  that  it  is  almost  impossible 
with  any  thing  like  satisfaction  to  illustrate  them  in  the  course 
of  a  few  desultory  remarks. 

The  first  incident  that  comes  before  us  is,  that  "  he  had 
ended  all  his  sayings  in  the  audience  of  the  people."  His 
religion  was  not  like  the  ancient  philosophy,  esoteric,  as  it 
was  called,  meant  for  the  audience  of  the  few ;  it  was  a  relig- 
ion that  was  addressed  to  the  multitude,  and  Jesus  Christ 
2)reached,  we  are  informed  frequently,  "  in  the  audience  of 
the  people."  It  is  said  that  after  this  a  certain  centurion  — 
that  is,  a  soldier — had  a  servant,  whom  he  very  much  valued, 
and  who  "  was  sick  and  ready  to  die."  "When  this  soldier 
heard  of  Jesus,  thinking  himself  not  worthy  to  approach  him, 
but  supposing,  rightly  or  wrongly,  that  the  elders  of  the 
Jews  —  the  leading  representatives  of  the  Sanhedrim  in  the 
nation  —  would  be  more  acceptable  to  so  great  and  illustrious 
a  personage,  he  sent  these  elders  to  Jesus ;  and  the  very 
Jews,  who  rejected  Christ  as  the  Messiah,  were  constrained 
to  attest  the  character  of  this  good  soldier,  and  to  say  that 
he  was  worthy  to  receive  the  benefit  that  he  asked ;  and  they 
gave  proof  of  his  worthiness,  —  "  for  he  loveth  our  nation"  — 

•         10  (109) 


110  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

evidently  lie  was  a  Gentile,  —  and,  secondly,  he  has  ex- 
pended his  money  in  building  us  a  church,  a  proof  that  he 
not  only  loves  us  as  a  sister  nation,  but  that  he  feels  sympathy 
with  us  as  a  portion  of  the  Israel  and  the  Church  of  the 
living  God.  Now  when  he  heard  this  appeal,  accompanied 
with  credentials  or  certificates  so  satisfactory  as  these,  "Jesus," 
it  is  said,  "  went  with  them."  But  the  centurion,  hearing 
that  he  came,  and  still  humble  and  lowly  in  his  own  estima- 
tion, and  afraid  to  approach  him,  "sent  friends  to  him,  say- 
ing unto  him.  Lord,  trouble  not  thyself:  for  I  am  not  worthy 
that  thou  shouldest  enter  under  my  roof:  wherefore  neither 
thought  I  myself  worthy  to  come  unto  thee  :  but  say  in  a 
word,  and  my  servant  shall  be  healed."  What  interesting 
and  striking  evidence  of  true  Christian  humility  was  here  — 
humility  that  did  not  shrink  from  asking  what  it  felt  to  be 
most  needful,  but  asked  in  terms  alike  honoring  to  Jesus, 
and  expressive  of  the  humility  of  the  military  petitioner. 
He  then  said  to  Jesus,  or  rather  sent  to  him,  this  illustra- 
tion :  —  He  not  onTy  asked  the  blessing,  but  he  expressed 
his  perfect  confidence  in  Christ's  power  to  give  it,  by  saying, 
"  I  also  am  a  man  set  under  authority  "  —  that  is,  I  am  not 
commander-in-chief  of  the  Roman  army,  but  I  am  an  officer 
occupying  a  lofty  and  responsible  position  in  the  army,  hav- 
ing some  above  me,  but  having  also  others  beneath  me  and 
obedient  to  me.  I  say  to  one  soldier,  or  to  one  battalion,  or 
to  one  company,  "  Go,"  and  instantly  I  am  answered  with  all 
the  precision  of  military  obedience  —  "  he  goeth ;  "  I  say  "  to 
another,  Come,  and  he  cometh ;  and  to  my  servant,  Do  this, 
and  he  doeth  it:"  military  law,  in  ancient  as  in  modern 
times,  being  prompt  alike  in  the  command  that  was  issued, 
and  in  the  obedience  that  was.  given  to  it.  Now,  what  was 
the  meaning  of  this  ?  It  was  this  —  and,  in  understanding 
it,  you  Avill  see  the  perfect  faith  that  the  centurion  had  in 
Jesus :  — "  Lord,  just  as  the  soldiers  in  my  company  are 
obedient  to  me,  and  execute  my  commands  the  instant  that 


LUKE    VII.  Ill 

I  give  them,  so,  blessed  Jesus  "  —  as  if  he  had  said  —  "  the 
winds  and  the  waves,  disease  and  heahh,  all  things  in  crea- 
tion, all  facts  in  Providence,  all  laws,  all  effects,  are  but  thy 
soldiers  and  servants,  obedient  to  thee.  Speak  to  the  wind, 
it  will  be  hushed  at  thy  holy  fiat ;  touch  the  waves,  they 
will  recognize  the  tread  of  the  great  Sea  Lord  and  Land 
Lord  of  the  universe ;  speak  only  to  the  powers  that  are  in 
my  servant's  body,  and  instantly  they  will  become  restorative. 
Command  the  disease  to  depart,  and  that  disease  will  take 
flight  and  shrink  from  the  presence  of  thee,  to  whom  all 
things  are  possible,  and  in  whose  benevolence  and  in  whose 
beneficence  all  things  will  be  benevolently  guided.".  Thus 
the  centurion  gave  his  illustration  to  Jesus,  not  as  if  he  felt 
that  Jesus  needed  information,  but  as  if  he  could  not  help 
pouring  out  the  fulness  of  his  own  heart,  and  showing  how 
truly  he  had  confidence  in  Christ's  power  to  heal  his  sick 
servant. 

Jesus  instantly  said,  "  I  say  unto  you,  I  have  not  found 
so  great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel."  I  have  found  outside  the 
Church  richer  Christianity  than  within  it ;  I  have  found  in 
the  camp  a  nobler  Christian  than  in  the  cabinet ;  I  have 
found  a  soldier  far  above  the  Pharisee,  the  Sadducee,  the 
Levite,  and  the  priest,  in  true  Christianity.  And  thus  we 
see,  what  I  had  occasion  to  state  before,  that  soldiers  are 
not  —  as  some  good  Christians  seem  to  suppose  —  all  repro- 
bates in  the  pages  of  the  New  Testament.  War  is  de- 
nounced as  the  offspring  of  evil  passions ;  but  a  soldier  is 
recognized  as  a  necessity  while  this  dispensation  lasts.  And 
we  do  see  that  it  is  possible  for  a  holy  heart  to  beat  beneath 
a  red  coat;  and  you  will  find  many  times  in  the  army  —  at 
least  I  have  seen  myself — more  genuine  Christianity,  more 
simple-minded,  straightforward  specimens  of  what  the  Gospel 
can  make  man,  than  you  will  find  in  statesmen's  cabinets, 
in  lawyers'  oflices,  in  merchants'  counting-houses,  or  "in  any 
section  of  society  that  I  know.     And  I  have  noticed  that 


112  SCRIPTUKE    HEADINGS. 

when  a  soldier  or  a  sailor  becomes  a  Christian,  he  turns  out 
one  of  the  very  choicest  and  noblest  specimens  of  Chris- 
tianity. Now  this  is  a  proof  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  not 
cast  off  the  soldier  and  the  sailor:  and  Avhat  a  pity  it  would 
be  if  it  were  so  —  that  those  to  whom  we  must  look  for  the 
defence  of  our  land  from  the  ruthless  intruder  that  would, 
invade  it,  and  for  the  repelling  of  those  that  would  destroy 
all  that  is  beautiful,  and  spoil  us  of  all  that  is  precious,  were 
none  of  them  Christians !  but  how  delightful  is  it  to  us  that 
there  are  among  them  Christian  men,  that  fear  God  as  well 
as  are  loyal  to  their  Queen,  and  are  prepared  to  defend  our 
country,  not  because  it  is  rich,  but  because  the  Church  of 
Christ  m  Great  Britain's  heart  is  the  noblest  thing  that  is 
in  it,  and  the  most  worthy  of  the  defence  of  the  brave,  and 
the  devotedness  of  the  good  ! 

'  In  this  chapter  we  have  another  incident,  scarcely  less 
beautiful  and  interesting.  "  It  came  to  pass  the  day  after, 
that  he  went  into  a  city  called  Nain ;  and  many  of  his 
disciples  went  with  him,  and  much  people."  It  accidentally 
happened,  as  the  world  would  say  —  though  we  have  no 
belief  in  accidents  at  all,  for  I  believe  that  the  accidents 
of  man  are  the  missives  of  God,  are  nonentities  —  that 
"  when  he  came  nigh  to  the  gate  of  the  city,  behold,  there 
was  a  dead  man  carried  out."  The  reason  why  he  was  car- 
ried out  was  this  —  that  in  ancient  times,  with  all  their  faults, 
they  were  more  civilized  in  one  respect  than  we  in  modern 
times :  we  bury  the  dead  among  the  living,  and  think  it  is  a 
very  beautiful,  and  holy,  and  right  thing ;  the  ancient  Jew 
and  Gentile  never  buried  the  dead  among  the  living,  but  al- 
ways outside  the  walls  of  the  city;  and  thus  showed  that 
they  were  more  sensible,  and  had  far  more  respect  for  the 
health  of  the  living,  without  in  the  least  less  reverence  for  the 
ashes  of  the  sainted  dead.  And  hence  in  those  times  the 
dead  were  carried  outside  the  city.  The  origin,  I  believe, 
of  the  dead  being  buried  within  the  city  in  modern  times  is 


LUKE    VII.  113 

a  purely  Roman  Catholic  one ;  it  is  not  a  Protestant  one. 
I  know  that  it  is  very  beautiful  to  see  the  green  hillocks 
around  the  ancient  church,  or  to  read  the  monumental  in- 
scriptions that  are  upon  the  stones  that  rest  over  the  ashes 
of  the  dead,  or  to  think  that  the  shadow  of  that  spire  goes 
round  all  the  graves  from  sunrise  to  sunset  every  day ;  and 
we  thus  come  to  associate  a  sort  of  sacredness  with  the  ashes 
of  the  dead  that  are  around  the  ancient,  the  venerable  church 
of  the  parish :  so  far  it  seems  very  beautiful  —  it  is,  un- 
doubtedly, very  sentimental ;  but  then  there  are  very  hard 
and  stern  facts  that  tell  us  it  is  very  injurious  to  the  health 
and  comfort  of  the  living. 

The  origin  of  it  was,  that  in  Roman  Catholic  times  they 
thought  that  the  dead  could  be  ajQfected  by  the  touch  of  the 
holy  or  the  consecrated  living:  hence,  in  ancient  Roman 
Catholic  days,  the  man  that  had  robbed  widows'  houses,  who 
had  amassed  his  fortune  by  plunder,  it  was  thought  that  if 
he  left  plenty  for  the  jDriest  —  or,  as  it  w^as  called,  for  the 
Church,  which  simply  means  for  the  priest  —  or  for  pious 
uses,  as  it  is  now  called,  which  means  simply  for  priestly 
purposes  —  he  was  buried  after  death  very  near  what  was 
then  called  most  improperly  "  the  altar ; "  and  his  dead  dust 
resting  close  to  the  altar  was  thought  to  be  a  pretty  strong 
guarantee  that  his  polluted  soul  would  be  admitted  to 
heaven,  and  be  in  happiness  in  the  presence  of  God.  Hence 
every  one  desired  to  be  buried  near  the  altar ;  those  who 
could  not  pay  so  much,  were  laid  near  the  church ;  and  those 
that  could  not  pay  at  all,  were  buried  near  those  who  were 
buried  near  the  church.  And  thus  the  dead  were  buried  in 
towns,  and  the  health  of  the  living  was  sacrificed  to  an  ab- 
surd superstition.  But  in  ancient  times  the  dead  were  car- 
ried outside  the  city,  and  this  explains  why  the  dead  man  in 
the  instance  before  us  was  carried  out  for  interment. 

There  is  something  exquisitely  touching  in  the  words  that 
follow.  It  is  here  as  we  sometimes  find  in  the  composition 
10* 


114  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

of  music  —  a  few  notes  strike  with  a  beauty  and  a  force  with 
which  all  the  composition  does  not :  so  occasionally  in  Scrip- 
ture a  single  word  is  so  suggestive,  so  touching,  that  it  calls 
up  a  whole  tragedy,  and  is  in  itself  a  history.  It  says,  "  the 
only  son  of  his  mother"  —  not  the  son,  but  the  only  son  — 
"  the  only  son  of  his  mother."  And,  as  if  to  complete  the 
greatness  of  the  catastrophe,  it  adds,  "  she  was  a  widow." 
And  to  show  that  this  was  a  good  woman,  and  he  a  good  son, 
"  much  people  of  the  city  was  with  her  "  —  following  with 
tears  in  order  to  express  and  deplore  a  calamity  they  could 
not  rectify  or  repair.  Jesus  "  saw  her"  —  how  interesting! 
And  do  you  think  his  sight  is  now  darkened,  or  his  arm  now 
shortened  ?  He  sees  and  notices  individual  sorrow  now,  just 
as  truly  as  he  did  then ;  and  he  relieves  it  now,  as  he  reliev- 
ed it  then.  When  he  saw  her,  it  is  said,  "  he  had  compas- 
sion on  her,  and  said  unto  her,  Weep  not."  That  command 
addressed  by  me  to  a  widow  mourning  over  the  loss  of  her 
only  son,  would  be  almost  mockery ;  it  would  be  absurd  in 
me  to  say  to  a  sorrowing  mother  —  a  sorrowing  widow  — 
"  Weep  not."  She  must  weep  ;  it  is  natural  that  she  should 
weep.  There  is  no  virtue  in  stoicism,  —  there  is  no  excel- 
lence in  insensibility.  Tears  are  human  —  often  they  are 
Christian  —  never  are  they  forbidden.  He  said  to  that 
widow,  "  Weep  not ; "  but  he  could  say  it,  because  what  fol- 
lowed was  to  turn  her  weeping  into  joy,  her  tears  into 
smiles :  for  he  had  no  sooner  said  so  than  he  added,  "  Young 
man,  I  say  unto  thee,  Arise."  Tiiere  was  the  mandate 
of  power.  When  an  apostle  did  a  miracle,  he  said,  "  In 
the  name  of  Jesus,  I  say  unto  thee  ; "  but  when  Jesus 
wrought  a  miracle,  he  said,  "  I  say  unto  thee.  Arise  "  —  in- 
dicating that  his  power  was  the  power  of  Deity,  not  a  dele- 
gated prerogative,  such  as  an  apostle  exercised.  And  the 
minute  that  the  dead  heard  it,  he  sat  up  ;  and  then  it  is  add- 
ed, in  .very  touching  words,  "he  delivered  him  to  his 
mother."     Now,  if  I  or  you  had  been  Avi-iting  this  history, 


LUKE    VII.  115 

or  any  one  of  our  gifted  novelists,  or  historians,  or  orators, 
or  poets,  they  would  have  given  such  a  long,  sentimental, 
and  beautiful  description  of  all  that  took  place,  that  the 
reader  would  have  been  enchanted  by  it ;  but  the  very  art- 
lessness  of  this  tale  is  its  exquisite  force,  reality,  and  sub- 
limity. Why,  it  would  take  me  an  hour  to  exhaust  all  the 
thoughts  that  start  into  one's  mind  by  that  simple  clause  :  he 
delivered  the  raised,  the  only  son  —  the  only  son  of  his 
mother,  and  that  mother  a  widow  —  he  delivered  him  to 
her. 

There  is  another  thing  worth  noticing.  If  any  one  else 
had  been  writing  this  narrative,  he  would  have  been  sure  to 
give  what  this  young  man  said  about  the  place  where  his 
soul  was  —  how  he  felt  when  he  was  dying  —  how  he  felt 
when  the  soul  reanimated  the  fallen  and  deserted  shrine  — 
what  he  had  seen  in  heaven,  what  he  had  heard,  and  with 
whom  he  had  held  converse.  I  say,  such  a  subject  would 
have  been  an  irresistible  temptation  to  any  one  of  us  to 
speculate,  dilate,  and  j)ortray.  But  it  has  always  struck  me, 
in  the  case  of  Lazarus  raised  from  the  dead,  and  of  this 
young  man  also  raised  from  the  dead,  that  their  silence  about 
what  they  saw  in  the  far  distant,  better  land  is  evidence  that 
the  writers  of  the  Bible  were  guided  by  an  influence  celes- 
tial and  divine.  You  must  all  have  noticed  how  in  this 
book  there  is  every  thing  that  sanctifies  the  mind,  every 
thing  that  impresses  the  heart,  but  never,  never  any  thing  to 
please  a  morbid  and  useless  curiosity.  Now,  just  remember 
this  one  trait  when  you  read  the  Bible ;  bear  with  you  this 
fact  —  that  there  is  nothing  in  it  to  gratify  the  morbid  and 
inquisitive  curiosity  of  man ;  and  you  will  see  in  that  circum- 
stance the  evidence  of  the  presence  of  a  divine  and  inspiring 
Guide. 

All  the  people  when  they  saw  it,  "  glorified  God,  saying. 
That  a  great  Prophet  is  risen  up  among  us ;  and,  That  God 
hath  visited  his  people." 


116-  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

The  next  incident  is,  that  "  John  called  unto  him  two  of 
his  disciples,  and  sent  them  to  Jesus,  saying,  Art  thou  he 
that  should  come,  or  look  we  for  another  ?  "  Now,  why  did 
John  do  this  ?  John  was  perfectly  satisfied  himself ;  he  had 
already  testified  to  the  Messiah :  he  did  it  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  others,  not  for  the  satisfaction  of  himself.  "And 
Jesus  answering  said  unto  them,  Go  your  way,  and  tell 
John"  —  wliile  thus  it  was  telling  John,  it  was  really  in- 
structing themselves,  as  he  gave  proof  of  it :  he  said,  "  The 
blind  see,  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed  "  —  these 
are  the  evidences  that  the  Prophet  promised  to  the  fathers 
is  now  come:  go  and  tell  John  this,  and  you  need  have  no 
doubt  who  is  here,  or  who  I  am,  or  what  is  the  solemn  func- 
tion I  have  come  into  the  world  to  fulfil.  He  then  spoke 
of  John.  He  says  — "  What  went  ye  out  into  the  wilder- 
ness for  to  see  ?     Was  it  a  mere  reed  shaken  with  the  wind 

—  a  worthless  thing  that  grows  up  in  a  day,  that  waves  in 
the  wind,  and  that  dies  in  autumn  ?  Or  was  it  a  man  clothed 
in  soft  raiment  ?  No.  Or  Avas  it  a  mere  prophet  ?  No,  I  tell 
you  ;  for  John  occupies  a  place  that  a  prophet  never  occu- 
pied. For  he  is  my  messenger,  predicted  in  Malachi,  who 
has  come  before  me  to  prepare  my  way."  And  then  he  adds, 
"  Among  those  that  are  born  of  women  there  is  not  a  greater 
prophet  than  John  the  Baptist "  —  greater  in  privilege  by 
being  the  immediate  herald  of  the  Messiah :  but  he  adds 

—  and  this  is  another  remarkable  trait  in  the  Bible,  there  is 
something  more  than  privilege  —  "he  that  is  least  in  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  greater  than  he."  When  they  came  and 
said,  "  Thy  mother  and  thy  brethren  are  outside,"  and  when 
they  said,  "  Blessed  is  she  that  bare  thee,"  Jesus  answered, 
"  Yea,  rather,  blessed  are  they  that  hear  the  word  of  God, 
and  do  it."  When  he  said  that  John  was  the  most  distin- 
guished among  the  prophets,  he  added,  more  blessed  is  the 
humblest  Christian  that  lives  in  the  Christian  dispensation, — 
teaching  us  that  privilege  exalts  us,  but  does  not  commend 


LUKE    VII.  117 

US  to  God ;  but  that  grace  humbles  us,  while  at  the  same 
time  it  commends  us  to  God. 

The  Pharisees,  we  then  read,  rejected  his  testimony,  and 
the  testimony  of  John;  and  Jesus  explains  to  them  that 
their  objections  were  founded,  not  upon  facts,  but  upon  their 
own  prejudices  and  passions.  He  says,  —  "John  the  Bap- 
tist came  neither  eating  bread  nor  drinking  wine  ;  and  ye 
say,  He  hath  a  devil : "  the  Messiah  has  come  to  you  —  if  I 
may  use  the  expression  —  feasting,  or  "  eating  and  drink- 
ing," and  not  fasting,  "  and  ye  say,  Behold  a  gluttonous  man 
and  a  winebibber,  a  friend  of  tax-gatherers  and  of  great  sin- 
ners ! "  So  that  let  me  do  what  I  will,  let  my  prophets  and 
apostles  do  what  they  will,  they  never  can  meet  with  a  re- 
ception from  you ;  because  your  minds  are  preoccupied,  the 
door  of  conviction  is  shut,  and  you  will  receive  us  upon  no 
terms,  and  accept  us  on  no  grounds. 

We  read  of  another  incident.  He  went  into  the  house  of 
a  Pharisee  called  Simon,  and  sat  down  to  meat  with  him. 
This  was  dining  with  that  Pharisee,  not  as  a  piece  of  festal 
enjoyment,  but  rather  as  a  time  and  opportunity  of  Christian 
instruction.  There  stood,  it  is  said,  behind  him  —  washing 
his  feet  with  tears  and  wiping  them  with  the  hairs  of  her 
head,  and  kissing  his  feet  and  anointing  them  with  ointment 
—  a  woman  that  was  a  sinner  —  a  sinful  woman.  You  ask, 
How  could  she  have  done  so?  Remember  that  in  those 
days  they  did  not  sit  at  table  as  we  do,  but  they  reclined 
upon  the  left  elbow  —  a  sort  of  semi-siesta,  a  sort  of  half  ly- 
ing, half  sitting,  and  helped  themselves  to  food  from  the  ta- 
ble :  the  body  was  stretched  all  along  the  couch,  and  the  feet 
were  at  the  end  of  the  couch,  and  at  that  end  of  the  table 
where  it  was  not  shut  in.  The  table  was  a  square ;  there 
was  one  seat  along  the  side,  another  along  the  top,  another 
along  the  opposite  side,  and  then  the  lower  end  was  left 
empty  or  open  for  the  servants  easily  to  approach.  Jesus 
was  leaning  on  his  elbow,  his  feet  at  the  end  of  the  table ; 


118  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

and  while  in  that  position,  this  woman  came  and  began  to 
kiss  his  feet,  to  wash  them,  or  to  let  her  tears  fall  upon  them, 
and  to  anoint  them  with  a  precious  perfume,  the  box  of 
which  she  broke  for  that  purpose.  "  Now  when  the  Phari- 
see which  had  bidden  him  saw  it,  he  spake  within  himself" 
—  he  did  not  speak  out  —  "  saying,  This  man  "  —  the  Mes- 
siah—  "if  he  were  a  prophet,  would  have  known  who  and 
what  manner  of  woman  this  is  that  toucheth  him :  for  she  is 
a  sinner"  —  that  is,  he  judged  of  Christ  by  his  own  mind 
and  thoughts,  because  Jew,  and  Sadducee,  and  Pharisee, 
and  Levite,  and  Scribe,  would  have  thought  it  a  disgrace 
even  to  speak  to  a  sinner,  or  to  touch  a  sinner ;  and  there- 
fore, judging  of  Jesus  by  his  own  standard,  he  said,  "  This 
man  cannot  be  the  Messiah ;  if  he  were,  he  would  never 
have  suffered  this  woman  thus  to  kiss  his  feet,  and  to  wash 
them  with  her  tears."  Jesus  instantly  saw  his  thoughts. 
Just  notice  that  fact.  "  He  spake  within  himself  "  —  nobody 
heard  him;  but  "Jesus  answering  said  unto  him."  Now 
you  have  here  an  indirect,  but  a  decisive,  proof  that  Jesus 
was  the  Searcher  of  hearts ;  that  to  him  the  thoughts  of 
Simon  were  as  transparent  as  if  he  had  expressed  them  in 
words.  Instead  of  answering  his  objection  directly,  he  does 
so  by  one  of  those  exquisitely  beautiful  and  touching  para- 
bles that  are  full  of  life,  and  that  instruct  by  portrait  paint- 
ing of  the  most  effective  description.  "  There  was  a  certain 
creditor  which  had  two  debtors ;  the  one  owed  five  hundred 
pence"  —  or  five  hundred  times  sevenpence-halfpenny  — 
"  and  the  other  fifty."  Well,  they  had  both  nothing  to  pay, 
and  this  creditor  frankly  forgave  them  both  —  that  is,  com- 
pletely and  entirely.  Now,  a  benefit  conferred  always  pro- 
vokes gratitude  in  the  recipient  of  it ;  the  greater  the  bene- 
fit the  greater  tlie  gratitude.  Well,  one  of  these  debtors  had 
forgiven  him  "  fifty  pence  "  —  or  somewhere  about  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  shillings;  the  other  had  forgiven  him  "five 
hundred  pence  "  —  or  somewhere  between  twelve  and  thii'- 


LUKE    VII.  119 

teen  pounds.  Which  of  the  two,  therefore,  would  love  him 
most?  Why,  he  that  had  the  greatest  benefit  conferred 
upon  him  would  naturally  feel  the  greatest  gratitude.  Simon, 
not  knowing  that  Christ  had  read  his  thoughts,  —  not  know- 
ing that  Christ  was  answering  his  own.  difficulty,  —  instantly 
answered,  "  I  suppose  "  —  that  is  the  natural  thing  —  "  that 
he  to  whom  he  forgave  most."  And  Jesus  replied,  "  Thou 
hast  rightly  judged.  And  he  turned  to  the  woman,  and  said 
unto  Simon,  Seest  thou  this  woman  ?  I  entered  into  thine 
house,  thou  gavest  me  no  water  for  my  feet"  —  in  warm 
and  Eastern  countries  they  do  not  wear  shoes,  but  what  are 
called  sandals  :  the  feet  were  naturally  covered  with  dust  by 
walking  along  the  road ;  and  the  very  first  act  of  hospitality 
that  was  offered  to  a  visitor  in  Eastern  and  in  ancient  .times 
was  water  for  the  washing  of  his  feet  and  his  hands.  Now 
Simon  omitted  that  act  of  hospitality ;  and  Jesus  ?ays,  "  This 
w^oman "  —  with  that  sensitive  perception  of  what  is  due 
w^hich  is  peculiar  to  woman,  and  very  much  alien  to  the  less 
acute  perception  of  man  —  "  has  tried  to  supply  that  act  of 
hospitality  which  you  omitted  from  the  deep  fountain  of  her 
love,  by  letting  her  tears  fall  upon  my  feet."  "  Thou  gavest 
me  no  kiss "  —  this  was  the  same  symbol  of  recognition 
then,  that  shaking  of  the  hand  is  now.  The  ancient  custom, 
which  I  believe  in  some  degree  prevails  in  some  parts  of 
France  at  this  moment,  was  to  give  a  kiss  of  friendship, 
friend  to  friend,  relative  to  relative.  That  is  now  super- 
seded by  another  habit,  according  to  which  two  that  meet 
together  as  friends  shake  hands.  Jesus  says,  "  You  did  not 
give  me  the  ordinary  kiss  of  friendly  recognition:  this  wo- 
man has  done  so.  In  short,  you  omitted  what  she  has  ful- 
filled ;  and,  instead  of  complaining  that  a  sinful  woman  has 
done  this,  you  ought  rather  to  take  shame  to  yourself  that 
you  omitted  it,  and  that  she  had  the  love,  and  the  beautiful 
and  holy  feeling,  to  do  that  which  you  have  so  rudely  for- 
gotten altogether.     Wherefore  I  say  unto  thee,  Her  sins, 


120  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

which  are  many,  are  forgiven ;  for  she  loved  much."  Our 
translation  is  liere  wrong,  and  you  need  not  to  be  acquainted 
with  the  Greek  to  see  it ;  because  the  last  clause  of  the  47th 
verse,  "  But  to  whom  little  is  forgiven,  the  same  loveth  lit- 
tle," shows  that  love  was  the  fruit  of  forgiveness,  not  for- 
giveness the  fruit  of  love  :  and  therefore  the  text  ought  prop- 
erly to  be,  "  Her  sins,  which  are  many,  are  forgiven,  therefore 
she  loveth  much  "  —  her  love  to  me  resulting  from  her  sense 
of  forgiveness-,  not  her  love  being  the  cause  of  that  forgive- 
ness of  sin. 

And  then,  to  assure  the  woman  that  her  sins  were  for- 
given, he  said  to  her  —  not  what  was  forgiveness,  but  what 
was  the  assurance  of  forgiveness ;  for  to  be  forgiven  is  one 
thing,  to  be  assured  of  it  is  another  thing  —  "  Thy  sins  are 
forgiven."  Then  Simon,  who  could  not  see  a  prophet  in 
Jesus  because  he  allowed  the  woman  who  was  a  sinner  to 
touch  him,  now  saw  more  than  a  prophet,  and  he  exclaimed, 
with  others,  "  Who  is  this  that  forgiveth  sins  also  ?  Jesus, 
taking  no  notice,  said  to  the  woman,  Thy  faith  hath  saved 
thee;  go  in  peace  with  God,  and  in  peace  with  thy  con- 
science, and  with  all  mankind."     Amen. 


Note.  —  Doubtless  there  was  a  deeper  reason  than  the  mere  con- 
soling of  the  widoAv,  (of  whom  there  were  many  in  Israel  now  as 
beforetime,)  that  influenced  the  Lord  to  work  this  miracle.  Olshausen 
(vol.  i.  p.  271)  remarks  —  "A  reference  in  this  miracle  to  the  raised 
man  himself  is  by  no  means  excluded.  Man  as  a  conscious  being, 
can  never  be  a  mere  means  to  an  end ;  which  would  here  be  the  case 
if  we  suppose  the  consolation  of  the  mother  to  have  been  the  only 
object  for  which  the  young  man  was  raised." 

[42.]  What  depth  of  meaning  there  is  in  these  words,  if  we  reflect 
who  said  them,  and  by  what  means  this  forgiveness  was  to  be  wrought ! 
Observe  that  the  [ifj  ex.  is  pregnant  with  more  than  at  first  appears  :  — 
how  is  this  incapacity  discovered  to  the  creditor  in  the  parable  ?  how, 
but  by  themselves  !  Here  then  is  the  sense  and  confession  of  sin  ;  not 
a  bare  objective  fact,  followed  by  a  decree  of  forgiveness,  but  the  inca- 
pacity is  an  avowed  one  —  the  forgiveness  is  a  personal  one. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  DIVINE  PREACHER MISREPRESENTATIONS  OP  3IARY  MAGDA- 
LENE    THE  SOWER  INFLUENCE  OF  CHARACTER  —  TRUE  AF- 
FINITY  THE  LORD    OF  WIND  AND  AVAVES A  DEMONIAC — EVIL 

SPIRITS HELL  AND    HADES THE    SWINE SITTING   AT  JESUS' 

FEET. 

The  cliapter  opens  with  a  record  of  the  labors  of  Jesiis, 
intimating  that  he  went  "  preaching,  and  showing  the  glad 
tidings  "  —  that  is,  the  Gospel  —  from  city  to  city,  and  vil- 
lage to  village.  He  removed  from  place  to  place,  feeling, 
that  wherever  an  audience  was  ready  to  hear  him,  there 
was  a  call,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to  preach  to  them  the 
glad  tidings  of  great  joy.  "VYe  read  next,  that  "  certain 
women,"  who  had  received  many  and  special  mercies  from 
liis  hand,- and  one  out  of  whom  seven  evil  spirits  had  been 
cast,  "  ministered  unto  him  of  their  substance."  They  had 
received  spiritual  blessings  ;  they  felt  that  the  least  that 
they  could  do  was  to  return  to  the  Dispenser  of  spiritual 
blessings  the  little  that  they  had,  even  if  that  little  was  their 
all.  Mary  Magdalene  is  popularly  supposed  to  have  been  a 
depraved  woman ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  she  was  so. 
The  fact  seems  to  be,  that  she  was  a  demoniac,  —  as  much 
misfortune  as  crime,  —  out  of  whom  Jesus  cast  the  evil  spir- 
its that  tortured  her ;  and  we  find  that  in  every  period  of 
the  life  and  ministry  of  Jesus  she  was  present,  like  a  minis- 
tering angel  —  the  last  at  the  cross,  the  first  at  the  tomb, 
and  the  subject  of  the  most  interesting  and  touching  con- 

11  (121) 


122  scrarTURE  readings. 

vcrsation,'  after  the  resiuTection,  recorded  by  Jolin,  found  in 
any  one  period  of  the  liistory  of  Jesus. 

"  When  mueh  people  Avere  gathered  together,  and  were 
come  to  liim  out  of  every  city,  he  spake  by  a  parable  ; "  that 
parable  the  outward  vehicle  of  inward  and  spiritual  truth. 
But  he  addressed  the  parable  to  the  crowd  ;  he  told  his  dis- 
ciples, in  private,  its  meaning ;  and  now  it  is  read  by  all 
people  and  ministers  together,  and  made  to  all  a  vehicle  of 
precious  and  important  instruction.  He  explahis  the  para- 
ble to  his  disciples  in  these  words  —  "  Those  by  the  wayside 
are  they  that  hear."  There  is  something  very  remarkable 
in  this,  that  the  seed,  and  the  soil  in  which  it  is  sown,  seem 
in  the  moral  world  to  be  identified.  First  of  all,  it  is  the 
seed  cast  into  the  soil ;  but  when  .he  explains  it,  it  is  "  those  by 
the  wayside."  The  seed  is  mentioned  in  the  parable ;  but 
he  identifies  the  seed  Avith  the  receptive  hearts  into  which 
it  was  cast,  and  shows  that  they  were  one.  This  teaches  U3 
a  great  lesson  ;  that  the  truth  sown  in  the  individual  heart, 
ceases  to  be  a  thing  separate  from  the  individual,  and  be- 
comes part  and  parcel  of  his  new  nature  ;  and  he  himself  is 
not  the  soil  in  which  the  tree  of  righteousness  grows,  but  he 
becomes  himself  a  tree  of  righteousness,  the  planting  of  the 
Lord.  He  says,  "  Those  by  the  way-side  are  they  that  hear ; 
then  Cometh  the  devil,  and  taketh  away  the  word  out  of  their 
hearts."  The  Avay-side  is  trodden  hard  ;  the  traffic  of  many 
feet  has  beaten  it  almost  into  stone  ;  seed  cast  upon  it  falls 
upon  its  surface,  it  does  not  sink  into  the  soil ;  and  lying  on 
the  surface  the  birds  of  the  air  pick  it  up,  or  the  foot  of  the 
passer-by  crushes  it,  and  there  is  no  product.  So  is  it  with 
the  truth  spoken  to  men  that  hear  it  Avith  obdurate,  unpre- 
pared hearts ;  it  is  no  sooner  received,  or  descends  on  them, 
than  it  is  seized  by  the  wicked  one,  and  no  good  result  is 
produced  in  such  a  case. 

"  They,"  he  says  again,  "  on  the  rock  are  they  which,  Avhen 
they  hear,  receive  the  Avord  Avith  joy ;  and  these  have  no 


LUKE    VIII.  123 

root,  which  for  a  while  believe,  and  in  time  of  temptation 
fall  awaj."  The  proper  rendering  is  not,  "  They  on  the 
rock,"  but  "  on  rocky  ground."  It  does  not  mean  seed  cast 
upon  a  bare  granite  rock,  but  seed  cast  upon  soil  that  is  full 
of  stones,  having  very  little  black  earth,  and  a  great  deal  of 
broken  stone.  Well,  in  the  crevice  of  a  rock,  nourished  by 
the  rains,  the  dews,  and  the  sunbeams,  the  seed  germinates, 
grows  up ;  and  having  no  soil  equal  to  the  nutriment  required 
by  the  stem,  the  heat  of  the  noonday  sun  blasts  it,  and  it 
droops  and  dies.  So  is  it  with  many  that  receive  the  truth, 
are  delighted  with  it  in  the  sanctuary,  go  to  their  counting- 
houses  next  day,  or  to  their  places  of  business,  and  the  cares 
of  the  world,  or  the  pleasures  of  the  world,  crush  and  cover 
it,  though  it  be  very  good ;  but  there  is  no  soil  for  the  nu- 
triment of  the  good  seed,  and  all  the  virtue  of  all  the  little 
soil  that  is  in  the  heart  is  exhausted  by  the  weeds  —  the 
baneful  w^eeds  —  of  Mammon  and  of  the  world,  that  vege- 
tate in  it. 

Then  they,  again,  which  fell  among  thorns  are  they  who 
have  heard  the  word,  but  it  grows  up  among  thorns  and  by 
and  by  it  is  soon  choked.  It  first  germinates  like  the  seed 
in  the  rocky  ground ;  it  grows  up  just  as  the  seed  there  did  ; 
but  mingling  with  thorns  and  thistles  which  have  preceded 
it,  and  are  much  more  exuberant  in  their  growth,  the  sun- 
beams are  intercepted  from  it ;  the  rain  drops  are  all  ex- 
j^ended  in  nourishing  these,  and  so  the  good  seed  is  "  choked 
with  cares  and  riches  and  pleasures  of  this  life." 

Then  there  is  the  good  ground  —  the  honest  and  the  good 
heart ;  not  naturally  so,  but  made  so  by  grace ;  for  it  needs 
as  much  the  grace  of  God  to  make  the  heart  receptive  of 
the  seed  as  it  does  to  give  the  seed  or  a  blessing  upon  the 
sowing  of  that  seed.  Well,  they  that  receive  it  into  a  good 
heart  keep  it,  "and  bring  forth  fruit  with  patience."  Four 
classes  of  hearers  are  here ;  three  classes  are  not  profited,  — 
one  class  only  is  savingly  profited.     One  dare  not  so  parcel 


124  SClilPTLliE    KEADINGS. 

out  every  congregation ;  this  would  be  exercising  judgment, 
instead  of  lifting  up  prayer;  but  when  one  looks  abroad 
upon  the  world,  one  is  constrained  to  own  that  it  is  the  few 
that  receive  the  seed  into  good  hearts,  and  bring  forth 
much  fruit ;  it  is  the  many  that  are  to  be  classified  in  some 
of  the  three  categories  that  are  first  mentioned  in  this 
instructive  parable. 

Our  Lord  then  proceeds  to  another  illustration:  "Xo 
man,  when  he  hath  lighted  a  candle,  covereth  it  with  a  ves- 
sel, or  putteth  it  under  a  bed."  If  you  have  any  light,  you 
will  be  luminous ;  if  you  are  the  salt  of  the  earth,  you  will 
have  and  exert  its  savor.  It  is  no  use  exhorting  men  to 
engage  in  missionary  action ;  it  is  of  very  little  advantage 
to  ask  men  to  give  to  the  Bible,  or  the  Missionary  Society ; 
if  men  be  Christians  they  cannot  help  giving ;  if  they  have 
grace,  that  grace  will  unfold  itself.  There  cannot  be  light 
without  its  being  luminous ;  you  cannot  cast  salt  into  any 
thing,  wdthout  that  salt  penetrating  that  substance  -with  its 
peculiar  virtue ;  and  a  man  cannot  be  made  a  Christian 
without  in  some  shape,  on  some  level,  or  in  some  sjihere, 
letting  his  Christianity  be  felt.  It  is,  therefore,  a  fair  ques- 
tion to  put  to  each  of  ourselves  —  Is  anybody  better  for  my 
being  a  Christian  ?  Will  any  circle  in  the  little  world  at 
home,  or  in  the  larger  world  abroad,  meet  me  at  the  judg- 
ment-seat, and  say,  "  I  am  indebted  to  you,  under  God,  for 
that  contribution  Avhich  sent  me  a  Bible,  a  tract,  a  Mission- 
ary, a  messenger  of  glad  tidings  ?  "  If  we  ought  to  suspect 
that  Christianity  that  does  not  radiate,  we  ought  to  suspect 
ourselves  if  our  character  is  in  no  shape,  in  no  sphere,  and 
in  no  degree  active.  If  there  be  light,  it  is  not  put  under  a 
vessel ;  if  we  be  Christians,  anybody  knows,  others  will 
participate  in  the  blessings  which  we  ourselves  have  re- 
ceived. 

"  Then  came  to  him  his  mother  and  his  brethren,"  evi- 
dently according  to  the  flesh ;  and  some  told  him  that  they 


LUKE    VIII.  125 

waited  without,  "for  they  could  not  come  at  him  for  the 
press."  Jesus  answered,  in  language  that  is  only  paralleled 
by  similar  remarks,  "  My  mother  and  my  brethren  are 
those  which  hear  the  word  of  God,  and  do  it."  I  have 
ceased  to  have  these  relationships  ;  I  have  ceased,  now  that 
I  liave  entered  on  my  ministry,  to  be  subject  to  her  who  is 
my  mother ;  and  they  are  my  brothers  and  my  sisters  who 
hear  my  word  and  do  it.  The  spiritual  is  greater  than  the 
physical ;  relationship  by  grace  is  truer  and  more  real  than 
relationship  by  nature.  And  this  teaches  us  that,  in  the 
world  to  come,  we  shall  feel  a  deeper  and  a  closer  relation- 
ship to  the  humblest  believer  on  Jesus,  than  to  the  dearest 
relative  that  we  ever  possessed  in  time  ;  the  earthly  is  lost 
in  the  heavenly,  the  carnal  in  the  spiritual,  and  all  that  are 
in  Christ  are  brothers  and  sisters.  I  need  not  say,  that  this 
rebukes  the  very  culpable  view  which  some  take  of  the 
Virgin  Mary.  She  came  to  Jesus  before  and  interfered 
with  his  ministry,  and  he  rebuked  her  —  "  Woman,  what 
have  I  to  do  with  thee  ?  "  or,  as  it  ought  properly  to  be  ren- 
dered, "  AVliat  hast  thou  to  do  with  me  ?  "  On  another 
occasion,  when  some  said,  "  Blessed  is  the  Avomb  that  bare 
thee,"  what  was  his  reply  ?  "  Yea,  rather,  blessed  are  they 
that  hear  the  word  of  God,  and  do  it ; "  thereby  distinctly 
declaring  that  a  dearer  and  nobler  object,  in  the  estimate 
of  Christ,  is  the  humble  widow  that  believes  the  word  of 
God,  and  does  it,  than  even  the  Virgin  Mary,  permitted, 
according  to  the  flesh,  to  be  the  mother  of  the  humanity  of 
our  blessed  Lord. 

We  then  read  of  a  miracle  wrought  upon  the  Lake  of 
Gennesaret,  or  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  The  waves  struck  the 
little  ship,  and  it  was  nearly  filled  with  water.  The  disci- 
ples, in  despair,  cried,  "  Master,  Master,  we  perish."  Jesus 
slept  sweetly  in  the  vessel.  Jonah  once  slept,  a  refugee 
from  God,  seeking  to  drown  his  fears ;  but  Jesus  slept  the 
Lord  of  the  storm,  the  Prince  of  Peace,  ^.nd  alone  had  per- 
il* 


126  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

feet  peace,  while  all  around  was  tumult.  He  then  woke  at 
their  bidding,  spoke  to  the  winds  and  the  waves  ;  they  knew 
the  voice  that  said,  "Let  there  be  light,"  and  there  was 
light;  nature  recognized  the  tones  of  nature's  Lord;  and 
the  winds,  that  had  broken  loose  from  their  loyalty  to  man 
when  man  broke  loose  from  his  loyalty  to  God,  and  the 
waves,  that  had  been  lashed  into  storm  ever  since  man  had 
rebelled  against  God,  recognizing  the  voice  of  the  great  Sea 
Lord,  and  Land  Lord  of  the  universe,  instantly  settled 
down,  like  inftints,  obedient  to  his  bidding,  and  there  was  a 
sweet  and  a  universal  calm.  No  wonder  that  the  disciples, 
struck  by  the  magnificence  of  the  spectacle,  said,  "  AVliat 
manner  of  man  is  this !  for  he  commandeth  even  the  wunds 
and  waves,  and  they  obey  him."  And  yet,  a  greater  mira- 
cle is  wrought  than  this :  there  are  winds  of  passion  in  the 
human  heart  —  there  are  waves  of  tumultuous  prejudice  in 
the  human  mind.  It  requires  as  much  of  Heaven's  power 
to  command  prejudices  and  passions  to  be  still,  as  it  ever 
did  to  command  the  winds  and  waves  on  the  sea  of  Galilee 
to  lie  down  and  be  at  peace ;  and  we  do,  I  trust  many  of  us, 
say,  "  What  manner  of  man  is  this,  who  makes  the  winds 
of  passion  and  the  waves  of  prejudice  in  the  troubled  sea  of 
the  human  heart  to  be  still ;  and  from  war,  fear,  commotion, 
anxiety,  to  ensue  a  great  and  a  blessed  calm  !  " 

Another  interesting  miracle  here,  so  interesting  that  it 
would  take  hours  to  exhaust  it,  is  that  of  the  demoniac, 
who  had  evil  spirits  a  long  time,  and  who  lived  among  the 
tombs.  This  seems  to  us,  at  first  sight,  a  strange  locality  to 
live  in  ;  but  you  will  recollect  that  the  tombs  in  Judea  were 
outside  the  city ;  they  were  immense  catacombs,  or  cavities 
cut  into  the  solid  rock.  The  remains  of  Petra  are  still  evi- 
dences of  what  they  were ;  and  in  these  tombs  half  a  dozen, 
or  a  dozen  people  might  locate  themselves  in  company 
with  the  dead  with  the  greatest  ease.  These  were  not 
maniacs,   but    demoniacs;    for    lunacy   is    one   thing,   de- 


LUKE    VIII.  127 

monlac  possession  was  quite  another  thing;  for  you  will 
always  notice  that  in  the  lunatic  there  is  one  will,  but 
in  the  demoniac  there  were  always  two  wills ;  there 
was  the  man's  own  will,  frequently  expressed  by  himself, 
and  there  was  the  -will  of  the  evil  spirit  within  him  that 
often  crossed  his  will,  and  drove  him  where  he  himself 
would  not.  When  Jesus  rebuked  the  evil  spirits  within 
liim,  and  told  them  to  come  out  of  him,  the  evil  spirits 
that  bound  him  with  chains,  and  drove  him  into  the  wilder- 
ness, answered,  thinking  to  alarm  Jesus,  We  are  legions. 
As  much  as  to  say.  We  are  as  numerous  as  a  Roman  legion, 
a  company  of  troops,  a  battalion  of  soldiers  —  do  not  meddle 
with  us,  for  if  you  do  we  are  more  than  a  match  for  you  —  you 
are  alone,  and  we  are  many.  But  they  saw  his  power  ;  the 
evil  spirits  recognized  the  presence  of  Him  who  will  one  day 
bind  them  in  chains,  and  cast  them  into  the  bottomless  pit ; 
"  and  tliey  besought  him  that  he  would  not  command  them 
to  go  out  into  the  deep."  It  is  a  pity  that  our  translators 
have  rendered  it  the  deep  ;  it  is  ujSvaaov,  literally  translated, 
the  abyss,  and  is  the  proper  word  for  hell.  The  word  hell  is 
not  strictly  the  place  of  lost  spirits.  In  the  Book  of  Eevela- 
tion  you  will  see  a  distinction  —  "  Death  and  hell  wei:e  cast 
into  Gehenna,"  the  place  of  lost  spirits,  called  in  this  place 
"  the  abyss."  David  speaks  of  the  separation  of  the  soul 
from  the  body,  without  specifying  whether  the  soul  is  in  hap- 
piness or  in  misery,  when  he  says,  "  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my 
soul  in  hell."  David's  soul  Avas  not  in  hell.  The  Greek 
word  here  rendered  fiell  is  hades,  and  literally  translated  it 
would  be,  "  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  the  place  of  sep- 
arate spirits  "  —  not  a  third  place  ;  that  place  may  be  heaven, 
or  it  may  be  hell;  it  is  the  place  of  separate  spirits. 
"  The  deep,"  therefore,  is  here  the  native  home,  the  terrible 
prison  of  the  fallen  angels  ;  and  they  prayed  that  they  might 
not  be  cast  into  it.  What  a  home  must  that  be  which  the 
tenant  dreads !  what  a  place  must  that  be  from  which  they 


128  SCKIPTUKE    READINGS. 

that  are  doomed  to  it  for  ever  shrink  and  recoil  in  unut- 
terable horror!  they  prayed  for  any  calamity  rather  than 
to  be  sent  there.  And  what  a  terrible  allusion  is  that,  in 
another  place,  Avhere  the  evil  spirit  asked  if  Jesus  had  come 
to  torment  him  before  the  time  —  indicating  the  time  of  tor- 
ment that  is  coming  ;  but  that  there  is  a  momentary  respite. 
And  what  is  the  evil  spirit's  respite  ?  His  happiness  is  in 
our  misery,  his  joy  in  the  ratio  of  his  success  in  ruining  souls. 
It  is  a  very  awful  thought  that  there  should  be  suffered  by 
God,  in  his  infinite  benevolence,  a  fallen  spirit  that  lives  on 
the  wrecks  and  the  ruins  of  mankind  ;  but  yet  it  is  so.  All 
the  why,  the  wherefore,  and  the  use  of  it,  we  cannot  see  now, 
but  there  is  no  doubt  that  we  shall  see  hereafter.  They  be- 
sought him,  then,  that  he  would  suffer  them  to  go  into  a  herd 
of  swine.  It  is  said  in  one  Gospel,  "  Jesus  said.  Go ; "  in 
this  Gospel  the  meaning  of  that  command  is  less  decided  and 
expressive ;  it  is  said,  "  and  he  suffered  them."  But,  it  may 
be  said,  Why  should  Jesus  make  the  swine  —  the  dumb,  in- 
offensive brutes  —  receptive  of  a  demoniac  influence  that 
would  drive  them  to  destruction  ?  And  secondly,  it  may  be 
asked,  How  could  brutes  be  demon-possessed?  My  answer 
to  the  first  is,  that  these  swine  were  the  property  of  Jews, 
who  did  not  directly  keep  them  themselves,  but  employed 
Gentiles  to  take  care  of  them.  The  Jew  thought  that  he  Es- 
caped the  sin  if  he  got  the  Gentile  to  do  it.  The  Jew,  in 
London,  holds  Saturday  to  be  a  Sabbath,  and  I  rejoice  to  see 
in  tlie  Jew,  wliile  he  is  wrong,  that  he  is  in  earnest,  and  I 
cannot  but  respect  him.  I  have  never  seen  a  Jew's  shop 
that  had  not  the  shutters  closed  from  Friday  night  until  sun- 
set on  the  Saturday  evening,  rebuking  by  that  act  the  less 
scrupulous  Gentile,  who,  knowing  the  truth,  and  having  a 
lovelier  Sabbath,  yet  keeps  his  shop  open  and  does  this  world's 
trafHc  notwithstanding.  I  say,  then,  that  this  permitting  the 
evil  spirits  to  go  into  the  swine  was  a  judgment  upon  the 
Jews  ;  the  destruction  of  the  swine  was  loss  to  the  greedy 


LUKE    VIII.  129 

Jewish  owners,  as  well  as  a  striking  and  significant  miracle. 
But  you  saj,  Is  it  right  to  destroy  dumb  and  inoffensive 
brutes  for  man's  sin  ?  You  set  lire  accidentally  to  a  house, 
the  noble  horse  is  destroyed  in  the  stable ;  you  erect  a 
Crystal  Palace,  a  scaffol'd  falls,  and  poor  men  not  only  suffer, 
but  the  dumb  brutes  are  found  crushed  beneath  the  ruins. 
You  do  find,  as  a  matter-of-fact,  that  cattle  suffer  when  men 
mistake ;  and  if  it  was  wTong  in  God  to  let  cattle  suffer  for 
man's  sin,  on  the  supposition  that  God  governs  the  world,  it 
must  equally  tell  against  God  to  allow  cattle  still  to  suffer 
"vvhen  man  mistakes.  But  besides  this,  there  is  the  difficulty, 
How  could  swine  be  possessed  of  devils  ?  I  think  that  the 
creation  all  fell  when  man  fell.  It  is,  I  think,  the  most  hum- 
bling truth  —  a  truth  that  I  have  elucidated  elsewhere,  upon 
the  8th  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  where  it  is 
said,  "  The  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth ; "  I  have 
show^n  there  what  I  think  can  be  irresistibly  j^roved,  that 
man's  sin  has  influenced  all  creation,  and  that  nature  now  is 
not  in  her  normal  state,  but  her  abnormal  state.  Every  thing 
is  imperfect,  —  there  is  not  a  flower  that  blooms  to  perfection, 
there  is  not  a  fruit  that  ripens  to  full  maturity,  there  is  not  a 
single  tree,  or  Hower,  or  gem,  or  rock,  that  was  as  it  w^as 
when  Paradise  retained  its  glory,  and  man  held  fast  his  in- 
nocence. The  dumb  brutes  are  not  in  their  original  condi- 
tion ;  how  are  they  worn  out  prematurely,  and  galled,  and 
pained,  in  order  to  meet  the  demands  of  an  age  of  intense 
competition  !  But  that  brutes  are  receptive  of  influence  is 
plain;  the  horse  can  be  taught,  the  dog  may  be  trained. 
Dumb  brutes  are  receptive  of  influence  from  man,  and  so 
they  may  be,  as  they  were  here,  receptive  of  superior  influ- 
ence still ;  and  the  evil  spirits  "  entered  into  the  swine  :  and 
the  herd  ran  violently  down  a  steep  place  into  the  lake,  and 
were  choked."  This  was  judgment  on  the  Jews  they  be-  . 
longed  to  ;  it  was  an  exliibition  of  poAver  on  the  part  of  God ; 


130  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

it  was  the  deliverance  of  a  poor  demoniac  at  the  expense  of 
a  herd  of  swine  which  ought  not  to  have  been  there,  and 
were  kept  by  Jewish  owners,  in  spite  of  the  commands  and 
interdict  of  their  own  law.  And  "  when  they  that  fed  them 
saw  what  was  done,  they  fled,  and  went  and  told  it  in  the 
city  and  in  the  country.  Then  went  they  out  to  see  what 
was  done  ;  and  came  to  Jesus,  and  found  the  man  "  —  where  ? 
How  beautiful  is  this  —  "  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,"  the 
place  of  safety,  "  clothed  "  —  no  longer  ragged  or  naked 
amid  the  tombs,  but  clothed  —  "  and  in  his  right  mind."  And 
the  peaceable  and  beautiful  spectacle,  indicating  a  transition 
so  great,  made  the  spectators  afraid. 

A  nation  without  religion  is  the  demoniac  amid  the  tombs  ; 
a  nation  saturated  with  living  Christianity  is  the  demoniac 
cured,  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  in  its  right  mind. 

We  then  read  that  this  poor  man  "  besought  Jesus  that  he 
might  be  with  him  ; "  but  that  Jesus  did  not  permit  him  to  do 
so,  and  said,  "  Return  to  thine  own  house,  and  show  how  great 
things  God  hath  done  unto  thee."  He  wished  to  remain 
with  Jesus  ;  but  he  said,  No  ;  privilege  is  duty,  a  blessing  is 
responsibility  —  you  have  received,  you  must  now  give. 
Go  to  your  home,  therefore,  and  show  what  things  God  hath 
done  for  you.  That  is  just  the  lesson  for  every  Christian  in 
this  assembly.  Many  persons,  when  they  first  come  under 
the  influence  of  the  GosjdcI  —  as  I  can  personally  testify  — 
want  instantly  to  go  and  be  preachers  of  it.  Not  that  there 
is  any  objection  to  this,  for  there  is  no  risk  of  there  being 
too  many  preachers  ;  but  some  of  these  I  find  are  anxious  to 
leave  the  trade  or  the  profession  in  which  they  are  engaged, 
and  become  ministers.  I  have  said  to  them.  Your  feeling 
is  quite  proper ;  but  go  to  your  own  home  first ;  see  what 
you  can  do  in  the 'little  pulpit  and  the  little  congregation 
called  home,  and  then,  if  you  find  tliat  God  has  called  you, 
and  commissioned  you,  and  enabled  you  to  preach,  it  will  be 


LUKE    VIII.  131 

your  duty  to  obey  the  comiiiand,  by  going  into  the  great 
pulpit,  and  addressing  the  larger  congregation  abroad. 

But  I  dwell  too  long  upon  the  chapter  I  have  read,  and 
must  here  stop.  I  pray  that  God  will  bless  the  reading  of 
it  to  us,  for  Christ's  sake,  Amen. 


CHAPTER    VIII.    43-48. 

THE  AFFLICTED  WOMAX — A  GREAT  SUFFERER  NOT  ALWAYS  A  GREAT 

8IXNER SEARCH  OF  HEALTH EMPIRICISM TRUE  BUT  ERRING 

FAITH  —  FAITH  AND  SENSE  —  CURE  AND  CONFESSION  —  OBSTRUC- 
TIONS. 

I  HAVE  selected  the  miracle  recorded  in  these  words  as 
the  subject  of  a  few  suggestive  and  profitable  remarks,  be- 
cause it  has  some  peculiarities  which  the  rest  of  the  miracles 
of  our  blessed  Lord  do  not  possess.  This  woman,  affected 
with  some  malady,  we  know  not  what,  and  anxious  to  receive 
the  cure  that  no  physician  could  supply,  drew  near  to  Jesus, 
and  looked  for  a  cure  from  him  who  is  the  Lord  and  Giver 
of  life. 

Suffering  in  the  body  is  connected  some  way  with  sin  in 
the  world.  I  do  not  say  it  is  true  that  the  suffering  in  an  indi- 
vidual is  always  proof  of  sin  in  the  individual,  and  propor- 
tionate thereto.  We  are  not  to  judge  of  the  greatest  suffer- 
ers as  if  they  were  the  greatest  sinners.  "  Think  ye  that 
those  eighteen  on  whom  the  tower  of  Siloam  fell," —  think 
you  that  those  twelve  on  whom  a  scaffold  of  the  Crystal 
Palace  fell,  — "  were  sinners  above  all  men  ?  I  tell  you, 
No ;  "  there  is  no  ground  for  such  judgment  whatever ;  it  is 
not  ours  to  judge;  "but,  except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all 
likewise  perish."  We  are  to  look  each  to  his  own  state  in 
the  sight  of  God,  and  not  to  pass  judicial  sentences  on  those 
who,  in  tlie  providence  of  God,  may  be  the  greatest  sufferers 
among  mankind. 

Now  many  a  soul  is  conscious  of  moral  disease  just  as 

(132) 


LUKE  viir.  133 

this  woman  was  of  physical,  and  is  anxious,  most  anxious, 
to  be  healed  ;  but  many  a  soul,  just  like  that  woman,  goes  to 
every  physician  that  empiricism  can  mention,  and  seeks  a 
em'e  where  that  cure  is  not  to  be  found.  The  priest  —  the 
altar  —  the  penance  —  payment  —  are  all  quacks  and  em- 
pirics, and  unable  to  heal  a  single  disease  of  the  soul,  or  to 
stanch  a  solitary  sorrow  of  the  heart ;  and  they  that  go  to 
such  physicians  as  these  will  just  have  the  same  moral  ex- 
perience as  this  woman  had  physically,  —  they  will  suffer 
many  things,  spend  all  their  money  for  that  which  is  not 
cure,  and  be  no  better,  but  rather  worse  at  the  close  than 
they  were  at  the  commencement.  We  are  told  here,  that 
this  woman  had  rather  got  worse  than  better  by  the  treat- 
ment of  those  to  whom  she  had  recourse.  This  is  the  ex- 
perience of  all  in  diseases  of  the  body,  and  it  is  no  less  so 
in  diseases  of  the  soul.  Let  a  person  who  is  ill  go  to  a  phy- 
sician who  is  ignorant,  or  who  misunderstands  the  complaint, - 
or  to  an  empiric,  who  cannot  know  any  thing  about  it ;  and 
the  result  will  be  that  by  such  treatment  the  disease  will  be 
worse  instead  of  one  single  step  being  made  towards  its 
cure.  Better  have  been  without  physician  than  submit  your 
malady,  whatever  it  may  be,  to  a  physician  that  mistakes  it, 
or  treats  you  one  way  when  you  ought  to  be  treated  in  the 
very  opposite.  I  have  seen  a  book  whose  very  title  is  a 
satire  and  a  libel  on  the  true  profession,  "  The  destructive 
Art  of  Healing."  Persons  become  worse  from  treatment 
that  is  erroneous,  however  well  meant  it  may  be,  instead  of 
having  their  disease  removed.  So  we  read  that  this  woman 
not  only  got  worse,  but  it  shows  that  she  also  suffered  much 
from  many  physicians  —  she  suffered  much.  You  know 
that  all  attempts  to  cure  necessarily  involve  a  portion  of  suf- 
fering ;  in  this  economy  no  cure  of  disease  can  be  attained 
without  either  tasting  the  nauseous  drug  or  undergoing  a 
painful  operation  ;  and  if  the  real  disease  be  misapprehended, 
not  only  is  the  original  malady  made  worse,  but  you  have 

12 


134  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

more  than  the  suffering  that  would  liavc  been  incurred  by- 
right  treatment,  and  you  have  not  the  good  and  the  benefi- 
cial results  that  would  have  followed.  And  so,  my  dear 
friends,  those  that  seek  to  be  healed  of  the  great  disease  of 
the  heart  —  the  leprosy  of  the  soul,  —  and  go  to  wrong  phy- 
sicians, find  that  those  physicians  give  them  opiates  when 
they  ought  to  prescribe  something  altogether  different, — 
and  deaden  the  sense  of  pain,  which  is  a  ministry  of  benefi- 
cence to  lead  you  to  seek  a  cure;  and  thu^  going  to  the 
wrong  physician  you  are  made  positively  worse  ;  and  sec- 
ondly, you  suffer  only  more  in  consequence.  AYhat  suffer- 
ing will  devotees  go  through !  A  poor  Hindoo  devotee  will 
suffer  more  in  the  vain  hope  of  having  his  sins  ex^^iated  than 
many  Protestants  will  endure  to  show  their  love  to  Christ 
Jesus.  How  many  a  monk  scourges  himself  by  day,  lies 
upon  haircloth  by  night,  starves  and  stints  himself,  and 
■barely  shields  himself  from  the  cold  —  most  sincerely,  most 
earnestly,  thinking,  like  Martin  Luther,  that  he  can  thus 
strike  out  by  dint  of  such  processes  a  path  to  heaven ;  he 
suffers  very  much,  like  the  woman,  in  his  attempt  to  get 
peace ;  but  he  finds  that  all  his  sufferings  and  all  his  pen- 
ances have  done  him  no  good  at  all,  but  made  him  worse ;  just 
as  a  man  seeking  his  way  to  a  given  point,  and  going  the 
wrong  road,  has  not  only  to  come  to  the  right  road,  but  he  is 
weary,  and  way  worn,  in  retracing  all  the  stej)s  that  he  has 
taken,  before  he  pursue  the  very  opposite  direction.  A  man 
seeking  to. get  to  heaven  by  a  wrong  process  is  just  like  a 
man  upon  the  treadmill ;  he  is  always  active,  always  toiling, 
always  walking,  but  never  making  one  inch  or  atom  of  pro- 
gress. There  is  but  one  way,  and  that  way  is  declared  in 
Scripture ;  and  if  you  go  to  any  other,  you  are  not  only- 
made  worse,  but  you  suffer  very  much  to  no  purpose,  while 
you  do  not  make  one  single  step  towards  being  made  better. 
And  lastly,  the  poor  woman  had  done  —  what  many  a 
person  seeking  peace  of  mind  has  also  done  —  spent  all  that 


LUKE    VIII.  135 

she  had ;  she  had  paid  fees  till  she  had  impoverished  her- 
self and  enriched  her  physician,  and  all  she  had  got  in 
return  was  much  suifering,  so  that  the  disease  was  very 
much  aggravated  instead  of  being  wholly  cured.  How 
many  spend  all  their  money  for  that  which  is  not  bread,  and 
their  labor  for  that  which  satisfieth  not.  "  Ho,  every  one 
that  thirsteth,  come  to  the  waters,  and  he  that  hath  no 
money ;  come,  and  let  him  eat  that  which  is  good,  and  let 
his  soul  delight  itself  in  fatness."  After  she  had  learned 
how  little  good  she  could  get  from  physicians,  and  after  she 
had  spent  all,  and  could  get  no  more  prescriptions  because 
she  had  no  more  guineas,  she  heard  of  one  great  Physician 
whose  skill  had  startled  the  world  from  its  apathy,  and  who 
was  surrounded,  it  was  reported  to  her,  by  thousands ;  the 
blind,  whose  eyes  he  had  opened ;  the  deaf,  whose  ears  he 
had  unstopped ;  and  the  dlimb,  whose  tongues  he  had  un- 
loosed. She  determined  at  all  hazards  to  approach  him.  It 
was,  it  may  be,  in  desperation.  She  could  not  get  any  other 
medical  advice,  for  she  had  nothing  to  pay ;  and  therefore, 
weary  and  half  exhausted,  and  in  agony  marching  to  tlie 
grave,  she  came  to  Jesus ;  and  she  said  within  herself,  after 
having  discovered  that  he  had  wrought  so  many  great  cures, 
done  so  many  great  works.  If  I  may  but  touch  the  fringe  of 
his  garment,  such  must,  from  what  I  hear,  be  the  virtue 
stored  up  in  this  man  that  I  am  certain  I  shall  be  cured. 
Now,  this  seems,  at  first  sight,  a  strange  idea  in  the  woman. 
But  you  will  see  that  it  was  a  thoroughly  ecclesiastical  one ; 
for  it  was  the  injunction  of  God  himself  to  the  Jews  — 
"  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and  bid  them  that  they 
make  them  fringes  in  the  borders  of  their  garments  through- 
out their  generations,  and  that  they  put  upon  the  fringe  of 
the  borders  a  ribband  of  blue ;  and  it  shall  be  unto  you  for 
a  fringe,  that  ye  may  look  upon  it,  and  remember  all  the 
commandments  of  the  Lord,  and  do  them  ;  and  that  ye  seek 
not  after  your  own  heart  and  your  own  eyes  ....  that  ye 


136  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

may  remember  and  do  all  my  commandments,  and  be  holy 
unto  your  God."  The  Pharisees  abused  it,  by  making 
broad  their  phylacteries,  that  is,  ostentatiously  displaymg 
them  ;  but  true  Christian  men  in  Judea  complied  with  it ; 
and  Jesus  Christ,  therefore,  around  the  outer  flowing  robe, 
had  a  fringe,  or  a  phylactery^  not  too  broad,  as  the  Pharisees 
made  it,  nor  too  narrow,  as  the  Sadducees  would  have  it, 
but  just  as  God  had  ordered  it.  Now  she  thought,  as  the 
fringe  of  the  robe  was  a  divine  institution,  that  if  she  but 
touched  it  she  should  receive  the  virtue  from  the  wearer  of 
it  that  she  needed. 

This  woman's  faith  was  so  far  wrong  that  she  looked  to 
the  robe,  and  did  not  look  exclusively  to  the  wearer;  but  it 
was  so  far  right  that  God  forgave  the  alloy  of  imperfection 
that  was  in  it,  and  honored  the  fervor  and  intensity  which  it 
displayed;  and  the  beautiful  response  was  given  to  her, 
"  Daughter,  thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole :  go  in  peace." 
My  dear  friends,  there  may  be  true  faith  with  many  draw- 
backs in  it.  I  suspect  and  believe  that  many  a  true  saint 
gets  to  heaven  with  many  errors  in  his  creed.  We  must 
not  be  less  zealous  for  the  truth,  but  I  believe  that  many  a 
saint  is  in  glory  who  did  not  accept  in  all  its  clearness  every 
article  of  the  creed ;  who  had  some  wrong,  odd  notions  upon 
many  points,  but  who  held  fast  this  one,  "  There  is  none 
other  name  under  heaven  whereby  ye  can  be  saved  but  that 
name  Christ  Jesus ; "  and  God  forgives  the  imperfections  of 
our  faith  just  as  he  forgives  the  sins  of  our  life,  and  accepts 
us  through  Him  on  whom  faith  still  leans  while  it  trembles 
as  it  does  so; —  Christ,  oiu'  Foundation,  our  Saviour,  and 
our  all. 

Jesus  knew  that  virtue  had  gone  out  from  him.  This 
expression  seems  at  first  rather  a  perplexing  one ;  as  if  he 
distributed  or  gave  unconsciously  virtue  or  power.  The 
word  properly  translated  is,  "  Jesus  hioiving  that  virtue  had 
gone  out  of  him  ; "  but  that  power  did  not  go  out  from  him 


LUKE    VIII.  137 

contrary  to  liis  will.  It  was  not  virtue  communicated  to  a 
touch,  irrespective  of  him  who  was  touched ;  but  it  was  vir- 
tue which  he  bestowed  spontaneously,  and  not  unconsciously, 
as  the  phrase  would  seem  at  first  to  imply.  We  have  an 
instance  of  this  in  another  part,  where  it  says,  "  The  whole 
multitude  sought  to  touch  him ;  for  there  went  virtue  out  of 
him,  and  "healed  them  all."  It  is  plain,  that  he  himself  dis- 
tributed the  virtue,  and  healed  them  all ;  and  that  it  was 
not  an  unconscious  virtue  that  went  from  Jesus. 

But,  you  say,  if  it  was  not  unconscious  virtue,  why  does 
he  ask  the  question  here,  "  Who  touched  me  ?  "  I  answer. 
Why  did  God  ask  in  Paradise,  "Adam,  where  art  thou  ?  " 
Why  did  God  ask  of  Adam,  "  Hast  thou  eaten  the  forbidden 
fruit  ?  "  God  knew  both  answers ;  but  he  asked  in  order 
that  Adam  might  have  the  opportunity  of  confessing  his 
sin,  and  that  he  himself  might  be  glorified.  And  so  here 
Jesus  asked,  "Who  touched  me?"  not  that  he  did  not 
know,  but  that  the  woman  might  see  that  her  blessing,  re- 
ceived in  secret,  would  be  no  real  blessing ;  that  its  pre- 
ciousness  would  be  enhanced  by  being  followed  by  her  con- 
fession that,  she  came  believing,  and  that  Jesus  bestowed 
loving;  and  that  his  name,  therefore,  would  have  glory, 
while  she  herself  would  have  no  less  the  blessing  and  the 
privilege. 

Now  it  is  said,  also,  that  when  this  woman  came  to  him  — 
and  it  shows  that  there  was  something  in  the  woman  pecu- 
liar and  distinct  from  what  was  in  the  rest,  that  the»e  was  a 
great  crowd  —  and  touched  Jesus,  and  he  asked,  "Who 
touched  me?"  Peter  rebuked  him  —  I  would  not  say  re- 
huhed,  but  replied  roughly,  "  Dost  thou  ask  this,  when  num- 
bers throng  thee  and  press  thee  ?  "  Then  it  is  quite  plain 
that  numbers  of  the  crowd  pressed  against  Jesus,  that  num- 
bers of  those  that  were  about  him  touched  the  hem  of  his 
garment ;  but  there  was  not  one  received  a  blessing,  save 
only  this  woman.  Then  what  was  the  distinction  ?  They 
12* 


138  SCRIPTUIIE   READINGS. 

touched,  and  she  touched;  if  virtue  had  been  a  spontaneous 
efflux,  irrespective  of  the  will  of  the  wearer  of  the  gar- 
ment, and  in  spite  of  the  faith  or  faithlessness  of  them  that 
touched  him,  all  that  touched  him  would  have  received, 
some  greater,  some  lesser,  but  all  some  blessing.  But  we 
find  that  only  this  woman  received  the  virtue.  Why?  Be- 
cause she  came  believing  in  his  ability  to  do  her  good,  and 
believing  in  his  wilUngness  also  to  do  her  good.  And  the 
distinction  is  still  the  same  in  spiritual  things.  Thousands 
touch  the  Saviour's  robe  still  wdio  do  not  rest  by  faith  upon 
the  Saviour's  person.  Thousands  come  to  baptism,  to  the 
Lord's  Supper,  to  the  sermon,  to  the  church,  to  the  ministry, 
and  touch  these  fragments  of  the  hem  of  Christ's  robe,  who 
do  not,  like  the  woman,  believe  that  he  is  mighty,  and  able, 
and  willing  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  them  that  come  to 
him.  It  is  not  personal  contact  with  Christ  that  is  salva- 
tion ;  but  it  is  believing  reliance  upon  him.  If  that  very 
robe  —  which  the  Roman  Catholics  say  they  have  still  — 
were  present  in  the  midst  of  this  assembly,  nobody  could  be 
healed  by  touching  it;  no  sinner  would  be  pardoned  by 
touching  it.  It  is  faith  in  an  unseen,  but  not  an  unknown 
Christ ;  it  is  not  superstition  in  a  rag  or  relics  of  any  shape 
or  of  any  sort  whatever.  If  those  relics  that  are  this  year 
exhibited  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  w^ere  real,  —  if  they  w^ere  the 
actual  coat  of  Christ,  the  actual  cross  of  Christ,  the  actual 
thorns  of  the  crown  of  thorns  that  he  wore,  —  the  most  rev- 
erent treatment  would  be  to  bury  them  in  the  waters  of  the 
Rhine,  or  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  or  to  burn  them ;  they 
generate  superstition,  not  religion.  Salvation  is  reliance 
upon  a  Christ  who  is  everywhere,  and  may  be  approached 
everywhere  ;  for  wherever  an  anxious  heart  beats  in  prayer, 
there  is  a  sympathizing  Saviour  to  heal  its  diseases,  and  to 
give  it  peace  ;  "  whom  having  not  seen,  we  love ;  in  whom, 
though  now  we  see  him  not,  yet  believing,  we  rejoice  with 
joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."    He  is  nearer  to  us  than 


LUKE    VIII.  139 

the  contact  of  rags  and  relics ;  those  rags  and  relics  do  not 
bring  Christ  near  to  us,  nor  us  to  him ;  but  ftiith  in  him. 
Thousands  pressed  him,  touched  him  ;  none  received  virtue 
save  this  woman,  who  he  himself  attests  had  faith  in  his 
omnipotence  and  willingness  to  heal  her. 

When  Jesus  asked  the  question,  in  order  to  discover  the 
woman  who  had  touched  him,  we  are  told  that  all  denied 
except  the  woman.  They  thought  it  was  an  offence;  and 
though  they  had  been  pressing  upon  him,  yet  they  denied 
that  they  had  touched  him.  But  this  poor  woman,  who  saw 
that  she  was  detected,  and  knew  that  he  who  had  healed 
her  could  not  be  ignorant  of  her  individuality  and  her  person, 
at  once  confessed  that  she  had  done  so.  But  how  merciful 
was  this  !  Jesus  did  not  insulate  the  woman  from  the  crowd 
until  he  had  healed  her  disease,  and  given  her  strength,  and 
confidence,  and  love  to  bear  the  insulation.  A  female  would 
not  like  to  be  conspicuous  in  a  multitude.  She  would 
require  great  nerve,  or  great  courage,  or  great  love  to  Jesus, 
to  enable  her  to  consent  to  be  so.  This  woman  did  not 
first  confess,  and  then  come  to  be  healed ;  she  would  rather 
have  retired  and  concealed  herself  even  after  she  was 
healed ;  but  Jesus  first  healed  her,  inspired  her  heart  with 
confidence  and  courage,  and  grace  that  makes  a  woman 
more  courageous  than  a  hero,  and  do  exploits  that  will  make 
the  world  ring  with  their  renown,  beside  which  the  deeds 
of  great  heroes  become  pale  and  sink  into  insignificance.  It 
was  a  woman  at  Samaria  who  left  her  water  bucket  at  the 
well,  rushed  into  the  town,  preached  in  every  street  —  and 
said,  "  Come  and  see  a  man  that  told  me  all  things  that  ever 
I  did.  Is  not  this  the  Christ  ?  "  There  is  the  element  of  real 
heroism,  in  gratitude  to  Jesus,  in  love  to  God  for  his  mer- 
cies. The  reason  why  men  so  little  confess  Christ  and 
defend  his  cause  is,  that  they  have  so  httle  tasted  of  his 
mercy,  his  love,  and  power.  Yet  this  confession  must  not  be 
ostentatious  —  it  must  not  be  pride ;  but  it  must  be  the  ac- 


140  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

knowledgment  of  Him  fi-om  whom  we  have  received  bless- 
ing, when  that  acknowledgment  shall  give  glory  to  his  name 
and  do  good  to  those  that  are  about  us. 

Then  notice  how  Jesus  addressed  her  after  she  had  owned 
in  the  presence  of  the  crowd  that  she  was  the  person  who 
had  come  believing.  Jesus  instantly  addressed  her, "  Daugh- 
ter." No  more  what  she  was  called  in  the  beginning,  but, 
"  Daughter."  She  came  a  stranger  by  nature  —  she  departs 
a  daughter  by  grace.  And  she  felt  that  word,  "  Daughter," 
addressed  to  her,  more  dear  and  beautiful  than  if  a  coronet 
had  been  wreathed  about  her  brow,  or  a  sceptre  had  been 
placed  in  her  hand.  It  was  recognition  from  the  King  of 
kings.  She  came  exhausted ;  she  retires  now  rejoicing,  and  re- 
cognized as  a  daughter  by  One  who  was  not  a  creature,  but 
God. 

He  then  removes  her  anxiety,  "  Be  of  good  comfort."  I 
doubt  not  that  poor  woman,  when  she  saw  she  was  detected, 
was  afraid  that  he  would  withdraw  the  virtue  that  had 
passed  from  him,  or  that  he  would  punish  her  for  daring  to 
touch  even  the  hem  of  his  garment ;  and  therefore  she  was 
afraid.  Jesus  showed  that  he  is  not  satisfied  with  making 
his  people  well,  he  desires  also  to  make  his  people  happy ; 
and  wherever  a  Christian  finds  his  safety  in  the  Rock  of 
Ages,  he  will  instantly  feel  comfort  in  the  Holy  Spirit  — 
the  Comforter  of  God.  And  therefore,  Jesus  says  to  her, 
"  Be  of  good  comfort."  Do  not  doubt  that  you  are  accepted 
of  me  ;  do  not  fear  that  I  will  use  one  harsh  word,  or  revoke 
the  blessing  which  is  given,  and  is  without  repentance. 

Then  Jesus  specifies  to  her  the  means  by  which  she  had 
been  cured  —  "  Thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole."  Faith, 
the  instrument:  the  virtue  that  cured  was  mine;  faith  in 
thee,  virtue  in  me ;  thy  faith,  emptiness  seeking  fulness, 
disease  seeking  health,  sin  seeking  pardon.  There  is  no 
mystery  about  faith;  there  ought  to  be  no  metaphysics  in 
the  explanation  of  it.     Faith  is  just  conscious  Avant  of  some- 


LUKE    VIII.  141 

thing;  applying  to  Him  who  is  able  and  willing,  and  has 
promised  to  supply  it.  A  beggar,  when  he  feels  the  pangs 
of  hunger  and  of  cold  in  winter,  exercises  faith  —  it  may  be, 
of  a  feeble  kind  —  when  he  goes  to  the  benevolent  and  the 
rich,  and  asks  bread  and  raiment.  And  every  time  you 
take  a  5/.  note,  you  exercise  faith  in  the  Bank  of  England. 
And  why  ?  The  paper  is  of  no  more  worth  than  a  halfpenny 
sheet  of  writing  paper,  or,  it  may  be,  not  so  much  ;  but  you 
believe  in  the  Bank  of  England,  and  that  that  note  will  be 
available  to  you  for  bread,  for  food,  for  books,  for  learning  — 
for  whatever  you  need.  And  what  is  faith  here  ?  Just  faith 
in  God ;  trusting  his  promises  as  you  trust  the  "  I  promise 
to  pay  you  bl. ; "  just  taking  the  promises  as  realities,  and 
not  waiting  till  they  are  fulfilled,  but  acting  upon  them  as 
if  they  were  already  yours.  When  you  have  a  bl.  note, 
you  go  away,  not  believing  that  one  day  you  will  have  five 
pounds,  but  believing  that  you  have  in  that  piece  of  paper 
the  five  pounds.  And  so  with  God's  promises.  You  are 
not  to  beheve  that  one  day  you  will  get  the  blessings  that  he 
promises,  JDut  you  are  to  believe  that  his  promise  is  surer 
than  man's  performance. 

You  may  draw  upon  it  now  ;  you  may  count  upon  it  as  if 
it  were  real ;  you  may  avail  yourself  of  it  as  if  it  Avere  your 
possession,  and  treat  it  as  if  you.were  rich  with  all  the  riches 
of  heaven,  though  your  dwelUng  may  be  a  hut,  and  your 
covering  only  rags. 

"  Thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole,"  he  says ;  "  go  in 
peace."  If  our  faith  has  made  us  whole  —  if  we  are  par- 
doned, if  we  are  restored  to  our  right  place  —  -vve  shall  not 
long  remain  altogether  ignorant  of  it.  I  admit,  there  are 
many  persons  who  are  truly  pardoned  who  yet  doubt,  and 
fear,  and  are  anxious  to  be  certain  that  they  are  so.  I  can- 
not believe  with  many  truly  good  men,  that  assurance  is  of 
the  essence  of  religion.  I  believe  that  many  a  one  enters 
into  glory  who  died  doubting,  fearing,  trembling ;  but  at  the 


142  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

same  time,  it  is  our  privilege  to  seek  to  attain  the  blessed 
assurance  that  our  sins  are  pardoned.  We  cannot  be  as- 
sured that  we  are  pardoned  by  seeing  our  sins  cancelled  in 
God's  hidden  book ;  but  we  may  infer  that  we  are  pardoned 
by  feeling  the  disease  subdued,  the  new  heart  given  us,  the 
new  nature  imparted  to  us,  in  our  own  experience  within. 
We  can  feel  the  fountain  of  our  sins  dried  up,  and  the 
springs  of  wickedness  removed ;  and  thus  from  the  inner 
work  of  God's  S})irit  in  the  heart,  we  may  justly  infer  the 
outer  act  of  God's  pardon  at  the  judgment-seat  of  all  our 
past  sins. 

He  says  to  her,  "  Go  in  peace."  I  did  not  state  on  a  pre- 
vious reading  of  this  chapter,  what  indeed  I  did  not  know 
till  I  looked  at  the  original  this  day,  or  rather,  yesterday ;  I 
found  there  that  it  is  not  strictly,  "  Go  in  peace ; "  but  it  is, 
"  Go  into  peace." 

You  say,  —  Is  not  this  perhaps  a  distinction  without  a  dif- 
ference ?  No  ;  it  means.  Go  into  the  scenes  of  martyrdom ; 
it  is  yet  into  peace  —  go  into  life's  duties,  into  its  trials,  into 
its  sick  rooms,  into  its  dying  chambers,  into  its  sufferings,  its 
ills,  its  aches,  its  pains,  and  in  each  into  peace  —  all  that  is 
to  the  worldling  a  sphere  of  sorrow  is  to  the  Christian  a 
chamber  of  peace.  He  goes  into  peace  wherever  he  goes. 
Go  into  battle,  step  upon  the^quartcr-deck,  be  sent  into  want, 
into  trials,  into  poverty,  —  a  Christian  cannot  go  where  an 
atmosphere  of  peace  does  not  envelop  him,  where  the  peace 
that  passeth  understanding  does  not  keep  him.  * 

I  draw  these  few  remarks  on  this  most  interesting  miracle 
to  a  close,  by  noticing,  first,  that  there  is  no  case,  moral  or 
physical,  so  bad  that  Christ  cannot  cure  it.  I  cannot  be- 
lieve, with  many  excellent  Christians,  that  we  ought  not  to 
pray  to  God  to  remove  temporal  calamity.  I  think,  if  you 
felt  a  want  of  means  to  support  a  family,  you  ought  to  pray 
to  God  to  give  you  a  better  situation  and  a  better  income. 
If  a  man  is  suffering  disease,  he  ought  to  pray  to  God  that 


LUKE    VIII.  143 

He  would  be  pleased  to  heal  his  disease.  If  there  be  some- 
thing that  your  heart  is  set  on,  and  that  you  think  would  do 
you  good  and  make  you  happier  and  better  if  you  had  it, 
pray  to  God  that  he  woidd  give  it  you.  I  know  some  Chris- 
tians say,  How  do  we  know  that  these  things  are  good  for 
us  ?  and  therefore,  if  we  do  not  know,  we  ought  not  to  pray 
for  them.  My  answer  is,  You  are  intruding  on  God's  pre- 
rogative when  you  entertain  that  question  at  all.  It  is  no 
business  of  yours  ;  it  is  God's  prerogative  to  decide  that, 
and  if  it  be  not  good  for  you,  he  will  not  bestow  it.  All  he 
asks  you  is  to  unburden  the  heavy  heart,  to  tell  him  — just 
as  the  child  tells  his  father  —  that  which  you  feel  most  pain- 
ful, and  ask  him  to  give  you  relief;  and  if  it  be  not  right 
you  should  get  relief,  you  may  be  sure  that  he  will  not  ^ive 
it,  but  will  impart  something  in  it  that  Avill  be  more  a  bless- 
ing to  you  than  its  removal.  But  do  not  discuss,  do  not 
even  put  the  question,  Is  it  good  for  me  ?  but  ask  for  what 
you  feel  to  be  needful,  and  he'  will  give  or  withhold  it  as  he 
sees  it  to  be  truly  expedient  for  you. 

This  woman  never  in  the  worst  of  circumstances  de- 
spaired. I  am  sure  she  had  suffered  enough  to  make  her 
almost  utterly  despair  of  a  cure ;  but  she  did  not  despair. 
She  had  consulted  physician  after  physician ;  she  had  taken 
medicine  till  taking  it  became  worse  than  the  disease ;  she  . 
had  spent  all  her  money,  and  yet,  notwithstanding  all,  she 
would  not  give  up.  Despair  is  a  word  that  belongs  not  to 
the  Christian  vocabulary.  It  is  a  thought  that  ought  not  to 
be  entertained  f(5r  a  moment  in  a  Christian's  heart ;  there  is 
no  state  for  which  there  is  not  relief;  and  the  worst,  the 
most  wicked,  and  the  most  depraved  may,  at  the  eleventh 
hour,  nay  upon  the  stroke  of  the  twelfth,  touch  the  hem  of 
the  Saviour's  garment,  and  they  may  be  pardoned,  and  have 
everlasting  peace. 

Jesus  receives  to  himself  those  who  have  tried  every 
,  thing  else,  and  at  length  come  to  him  only  as  a  last  resource. 


144  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

This  woman  had  tried  every  thing  —  she  had  spent  all  — 
and  only  then  she  came  to  him.  What  a  blessed  thought  is 
here !  Not  a  truth  to  presume  on,  but  one  to  be  thankful 
for  —  that  Christ  takes  the  dregs  of  life,  that  he  will  accept 
you  when  nobody  will-  have  you ;  even  when  society  has 
thrust  you  from  its  bosom,  Christ's  bosom  is  still  open  to 
pardon  and  to  forgive  you. 

Let  us  notice,  what  great  humility  was  in  this  woman ; 
there  was  no  presumption  in  her  conduct  —  she  was  trust- 
ing, yet  humble.  The  greatest  faith  is  always  coupled  with 
the  greatest  humility. 

She  had  to  approach  Jesus  through  a  crowd.  It  is  still 
true,  no  sinner  ever  tries  to  get  to  Jesus  without  a  thousand 
standing  up  to  protest  against  it.  There  is  always  a  crowd, 
not  near  Christ,  but  very  near  to  us  that  seek  to  go  to  him ; 
and  the  instant  you  make  a  movement  to  approach  him, 
prejudice  and  passion,  the, fear  of  the  world,  the  praise  of 
the  world,  the  profits  of  the  world,  vainglory  —  a  thousand 
obstructions  will  stand  between  you  and  Christ.  One  will 
say.  You  are  become  a  fanatic ;  another  will  say,  You  are 
enthusiastic;  another  will  say.  You  are  Presbyterian,  or 
Independent,  or  Baptist,  or  something  of  that  kind ;  another 
will  make  some  other  objection,  however  absurd,  if  it  can 
only  help  to  swell  the  crowd  that  keeps  you  from  going 
instantly  to  the  Lord  and  Giver  of  hfe,  and  seeking  pardon, 
and  peace,  and  salvation.  But  mind  them  not ;  press 
through  the  crowd  —  let  no  crowd  stand  between  you  and 
him;  no  man  —  jmest,  or  Levite,  or  Pope,  or  Church, — 
has  any  right  to  keep  you  away  from  Christ.  It  is  your 
privilege  to  go ;  and  you  must  let  no  man  repel  you  from 
Him  who  has  expressed  his  mind  in  his  own  beautiful "  and 
blessed  words,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  are  weary  and 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest ; "  and  whose  complaint 
is  not  that  too  many  and  too  eager  people  come ;  but  that, 
"'  Ye  will  not  come  to  me  that  ye  may  have  life." 


LUKE    VIII.  145 

May  he  heal  our  diseases,  and  forgive  our  sins,  and  bless 
us  as  he  blessed  this  woman ;  and  to  his  name  be  glory  and 
praise.     Amen. 


Note.  —  Ver.  30.  The  fact  of  many  devils  having  entered  into  this 
wretched  man  sets  before  us  terribly  the  utter  break-up  of  his  personal 
and  rational  being.  The  words  will  not  bear  any  figurative  rendering, 
but  must  be  taken  literally  (see  ver.  2  of  this  chapter,  and  chap.  xi. 
2-i,  fF.),  viz.  that  in  the  same  sense  in  which  other  poor  creatures  were 
possessed  by  one  evil  spirit,  this  man,  and  Mary  Magdalene,  were  pos- 
sessed by  many. 

Ver.  44.  Her  inner  thoughts  are  given  in  Mark  v.  28.  There  was 
doubtless  a  weakness  and  error  in  this  woman's  view ;  she  imagined 
that  healing  power  flowed  as  it  were  magically  out  of  the  Lord's  per- 
son ;  and  she  touched  the  fringe  of  his  garment,  as  the  most  sacred 
a.s  well  as  ^^hc  most  accessible  pa];t.  See  Matt,  xxiii.  5 ;  Numb.  xv. 
37-40.  But  she  obtained  what  she  desired.  She  sought  it,  though 
in  error,  yet  in  faith ;  and  she  obtained  it,  because  this  faith  was 
known  and  recognized  by  the  Lord.  It  is  most  true  objectively,  that 
there  did  go  forth  from  Him,  and  from  his  apostles,  (see  Mark  vi.  56 ; 
Luke  vi.  19  ;  Acts  v.  15  ;  xix.  12,)  healing  virtue ;  but  it  is  also  true 
that,  in  ordinary  cases,  only  those  were  receptive  of  this  Avhose  faith 
embraced  the  truth  of  its  existence  and  ability  to  heal  them.  The 
cn-or  of  her  view  was  overborne,  and  her  weakness  of  apprehension 
of  truth  covered  by  the  strength  of  her  faith ;  and  this  is  a  most  en- 
couraging miracle  for  us  to  recollect,  when  we  are  disposed  to  think 
dcspondingly  of  the  ignorance  or  superstition  of  much  of  the  Chris- 
tian world ;  that  He  who  accepted  this  woman  for  her  faith,  even  in 
error  and  weakness,  may  also  accept  them.  —  Alford, 

13 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Christ's  mikacles  and  those  of  the  apostles  —  modern  mira- 
cles—  HEROD — MIRACLE  OF  FIVE  LOAVES  AND  TWO  FISHES  — 
PERSONAL  RELIGION — THE  MOUNT  TABOR — A  DEMONIAC  HEAL- 
ED —  CLERICAL  RIVALRY  —  INTOLERANCE  —  PERSECUTION  — 
FOLLOWING    CHRIST. 

In  the  opening  part  of  the  chapter  I  have  read,  we  have 
a  special,  but  rather  a  temporary  commission  given  the 
apostles  to  go  forth  and  to  -u^ork  miracles  in  the  name  of 
Him  who  is  the  Lord  of  life,  and  Heir  of  all  things.  He 
had  an  original  or  underived  power ;  and  therefore,  when 
he  wrought  a  miracle  he  did  it  in  his  own  name,  and  in 
virtue  of  his  ow'n  inexhaustible  resources ;  but  it  is  worthy 
of  notice,  that  when  the  apostles  carried  out  their  delegated 
commission,  as  recorded  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  else- 
where, and  whenever  they  wrought  a  miracle,  they  said,  "  In 
the  name  of  Jesus,  rise  up  "  —  or,  "  stand  up  "  —  or,  "  stretch 
out  thy  hand."  This  proves  that  theirs  was  a  borrowed,  not 
an  original  power.  It  has  been  asked.  Has  this  power  been 
transmitted  to  those  who  are,  either  in  spirit  or  otherwise,  the 
true  successors  of  the  apostles,  by  being  true  followers  of  their 
doctrine,  and  imitators  of  their  example  ?  The  answer  is, 
that  if  there  be  such  transmission  it  will  be  shown  to  be  fact. 
A  miracle  is  not  a  thing  that  can  be  kept  in  retentis :  there 
is  a  miracle  only  when  ^ere  is  something  done  that  strikes 
the  senses,  as  greater  than  nature,  and  gives  evidence,  not 
only  of  itself,  but  of  the,  truth  that  is  above  and  beyond  it, 
which' it  attests.  An  unseen  miracle  is  no  miracle  at  all ; 
(146) 


LUKE    IX.  147 

and  if  miracles  be  in  the  Church  now,  then  they  can  be  vis- 
ibly wrought ;  but  we  have  seen  no  miracles  wrought,  and 
having  seen  none,  aiid  having  no  credible  testimony  of  any, 
we  must  conclude  tliat  none  are  now  delegated  by  the  Head 
of  the  Church,  as  of  old,  to  perform  them.  And  at  all  events, 
if  they  say  there  ought  to  be  such  power,  and  if  such  power 
be  not,  it  must  be  from  want  of  faith  in  us,  or  want  of  Chris- 
tianity altogether.  But  it  does  seem  to  me  that  a  perpetual 
miracle  would  be  by  very  necessity  of  no  value.  It  is  as 
great  a  miracle  that  the  grass  should  grow  as  that  the  dead 
should  rise.  It  is  as  great  a  miracle  that  water,  and  dew, 
and  a  little  oxygen,  carbon,  and  hydrogen  should  grow  into  a 
little  stem,  and  that  stem  into  blossom,  and  that  blossom  into 
grapes,  and  those  grapes  into  wine,  as  that  water  should  be 
made  wine  at  Cana :  it  is  not  recognized  as  a  miracle,  only 
because  we  are  accustomed  to  it ;  we  call  it  a  law  of  the 
vegetable  creation.  And  on  the  other  hand,  when  we 
see  water  turned  into  wine  by  a  word,  Ave  call  it  a  mir- 
acle, just  because  we  are  not  accustomed  to  it.  But  a 
vine  growing  into  grapes,  and  those  grapes  turned  iuito 
wine,  is  just  as  great  a  proof  of  God's  power  as  water 
turned  into  wine  by  a  word  :  only  we  are  accustomed  to  the 
one  and  we  are  not  accustomed  to  the  other.  But  if  the 
process  were  reversed  —  if  a  vine  producing  grapes,  and 
those  grapes  being  turned  into  wine  were  to  occur  once  in  a 
century ;  and  if  it  were  a  "matter  of  every-day  occurrence 
that  a  man  should  speak  to  water,  and  that  it  should  be 
turned  into  wine, — we  should  say  that  water  turned  into 
wine  was  one  of  the  great  laws  of  our  creation;  and  that  the 
vine  growing  in  the  earth,  and  bearing  grapes,  is  an  extra- 
ordinary phenomenon  —  in  vshort,  a  miracle.  A  miracle  is  a 
suspension  of  the  laws,  as  we  call  them,  or,  in  popular  lan- 
guage, of  the  habits  of  nature  —  simply  to  call  people's  at- 
tention, by  an  appeal  to  their  senses,  to  something  that  is 
about  to  be  spoken  of  great  importance  to  them.     But  now 


148  SCRirTURE    EEADIXGS. 

we  have  in  this  book  such  miracles  wrought,  jiroved,  attested, 
historically  recorded ;  and  we  have  in  the  book  itself  such 
internal  evidences  of  its  inspiration  that  the  great  truth  is 
now,  "  If  ye  will  not  believe  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  and 
the  Evangelists  and  the  Apostles,  neither  would  ye  repent  if 
one  were  to  be  raised  from  the  dead."  It  is  not  more  power 
that  men  want  as  an  appeal  to  the  senses ;  but  more  grace 
that  men  need  in  their  hearts.  But  to  show  that  there  was 
much  of  the  miraculous  character  of  this  dispensation,  which 
was  peculiar  to  its  first  establishment,  you  find  they  were 
not  to  take  food,  or  staves,  or  clothing,  or  any  of  the  ordinary 
necessaries  of  ordinary  life.  But  now,  if  any  man  were  to 
go  out  in  winter  without  a  cloak,  to  preach  the  Gospel,  in 
Greenland,  it  is  a  matter-of-fact  that  he  would  perish  of  cold. 
If  another  man  were  to  go  without  food,  and  think  he  could 
live  on  air,  he  Avould  find  that  he  was  not  imitating  the 
apostles,  but  tempting  God.  God  now  works  by  means ; 
the  time  may  come  when  He  will  work  without  means ;  but 
as  far  as  we  can  see  at  the  present  moment  he  works  by 
means,  and  we  have  no  right  to  expect  the  least  blessing, 
unless  it  be  bestowed  upon  the  use  of  the  best  and  the  most 
efficient  means. 

After  this,  we  read  of  Herod  being  perplexed  and  puzzled 
about  Jesus.  He  heard  of  all  that  was  done  by  Him  :  and 
in  one  Gospel  it  is  said,  that  he  guessed  that  it  M'as  John 
who  had  risen  from  the  dead ;  in  this  Gospel  he  was  told 
that  it  was  so ;  but  he  could  not  understand  this,  because  he 
recollected  himself  that  he  had  beheaded  John  ;  but  there  is 
no  doubt  that  the  conscience  of  Herod  was  better  than  his 
creed.  Herod  was  a  Sadducee.  He  did  not  believe  in  the 
resurrection  ;  he  did  not  believe  in  the  separate  existence  of 
the  soul ;  and  yet  his  own  conscience  so  rebuked  him  for  the 
murder  of  John  the  Baptist,  that  it  made  him  dread,  if  not 
conclude,  that  John  was  again  risen  from  the  dead. 

We  read  next  the  record  of  a  miracle  performed  by  our 


LUKE    IX.  149 

blessed  Lord :  where  the  people  wanted  bread  and  could 
not  procure  it,  being  in  a  desert  place,  Jesus  turned  the 
five  loaves  and  the  two  fishes  into  food  adequate  to  feed 
five  thousand.  This  was  a  miracle  —  a  very  striking  and 
a  very  startling  one  ;  and  as  if  to  show  how  genuine  it  M^as, 
and  that  there  might  be  no  misapprehension  about  it,  twelve 
baskets  were  gathered  of  the  fragments  that  were  left, — 
vastly  more  remained  of  the  feast  than  there  was  of  original 
preparation  for  the  feeding  of  the  people.  This  shows  that 
man  doth  not  live  by  bread  alone.  When  food  does  nt>t 
come  in  the  fulfilment  of  our  duty,  God  will  make  our  bread 
and  our  water  sure.  Trust  in  Him  is  strength ;  leaning  on 
Him  is  life  ;  and  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  and  the  use  of 
all  the  means  that  belong  to  us,  we  may  expect  that  in  an- 
swer to  prayer  He  will  give  us  each  day  our  daily  bread. 
Still  this  does  not  imply  that  we  are  not  to  exert  ourselves 
to  procure  a  subsistence.  "  If  a  man  will  not  work,  neither 
shall  he  eat ; "  he  has  no  right  to  expect  God  to  minister  to 
his  indolence.  Jesus  then  made  this  miracle  the  pedestal 
of  a  great  truth,  and  by  it  convinced  them  that  he  was  the 
Messiah.  While  he  was  alone  praying,  his  disciples  came 
around  him,  and  he  asked  them  whom  the  people  said  that 
he  was  —  not  that  he  needed  information,  but  that  he  wanted 
to  bring  home  to  them  a  lesson.  They  said  that  some  said 
he  was  John  the  Baptist,  some  Elias,'sonie  that  he  was  one 
of  the  old  prophets.  This  was  tradition.  And  then  he  put 
that  question,  Avhich  is  so  just  a  precedent  to  every  minister, 
and  so  fit  for  every  human  conscience,  not,  What  says  the 
Church  ?  or.  What  says  the  world ?  but.  Who  do  }ou  say, 
and  think,  and  feel  that  I  am?  And  blessed  is  that  man  — 
blessed  above  Christ's  own  relations  according  to  the  flesh  — 
who  can  say,  "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God." 

Jesus  told  them  to  tell  these  things  to  no  man  —  that  is, 
at  that  present  moment,  and  in  this  conjuncture  of  circum- 
stances.    There  were  reasons  for  it ;  his  time  was  not  yet 
13* 


150  SCKIPTURE    HEADINGS. 

come  ;  and  on  various  occasions  he  throws  forth  hints  of  this 
kind  to  the  apostles,  seasonable  in  their  phice  and  at  their 
time ;  and  he  tells  them  that  something  else  was  to  take 
place  before  the  Christ  of  God,  the  Messiah,  should  sit 
upon  his  throne,  and  appear  invested  with  his  glory  —  that 
there  must  be  a  cross,  and  agony,  and  passion ;  that  there 
must  be  suffering  ;  that  he  must  be  slain,  and  be  raised  the 
third  day,  and  that  now  was  the  time  for  each  to  deny  him- 
self—  to  deny  his  profitable  self,  his  pleasurable  self,  his 
favored  self,  his  vain  self,  his  joyous  self,  and  to  take  up  his 
cross  —  not  what  he  makes  for  himself,  but  what  God  assigns 
in  his  providence  —  and  bearing  that  cross  meekly  and  pa- 
tiently, as  by  God's  assignation,  to  follow  Christ  in  all  his 
imitable  perfections.  He  then  tells  us,  that  whosoever  is 
ashamed  of  him  and  of  his  cross,  of  him  will  lie  also  be 
ashamed  in  his  kingdom. 

We  have  next  a  beautiful  account  of  the  transfiguration, 
recorded  in  varying  circumstances,  recorded  also  in  each  of 
the  previous  Gospels,  as  we  have  already  read.  On  this 
occasion  it  seems  that  "  Peter  and  they  that  were  with  him  " 
were*  worn  out,  and  wearied  and  listless,  and  so  fell  asleep. 
We  then  read,  that  "as  they  departed  from  him"  —  that  is, 
Moses  and  Elias  —  "  Peter  said  mito  Jesus  "  —  ever  first  to 
speak,  and  ever  rash  in  expressing  himself — "Master,  it  is 
good  for  us  to  be  here,"  —  as  much  as  to  say.  We  do  not 
want  that  you  should  be  slain,  and  that  you  should  rise  the 
third  day ;  we  would  rather  get  rid  of  the  cross ;  we  would 
rather  inherit  the  glory  without  passing  through  the  disci- 
pline that  fits  for  it.  Peter  was  one  of  those  who  would 
have  the  crown,  if  he  could  reach  it,  without  having  to  bear 
the  cross,  that  must  precede  it ;  and  therefore  he  says,  "  It  is 
good  for  us  to  be  here  "  —  this  is  just  what  we  want ;  this  is 
what  we  have  been  looking  for.  Come,  now,  let  us  rest  here  ; 
do  not  let  us  go  down  again  to  a  bitter  world ;  let  that  tran- 
sient Tabor  be  a  permanent  transfiguration.     Let  us  now 


LUKE    IX.  151 

live  here,  Moses,  Ellas,  you,  and  I,  for  ever.  It  is  added,  in 
language  that  expresses  every  thing  in  few  words,  he  said 
this,  like  many  other  people  when  they  speak  on  subjects  too 
high  for  them,  "  not  knowing  wdiat  he  said." 

A  voice  came  from  the  clouds,  saying,  '•  This  is  my  be- 
loved Son ;  hear  him."  How  remarkable  was  this !  not, 
"  hear  Elias,"  wdio  was  speaking  of  Christ ;  nor  Moses,  also 
talking  of  him ;  hear  neither  of  these  saints  in  glory ;  but, 
"  This  is  my  beloved  Son ;  hear  him."  Let  his  voice  ring 
loudest ;  let  his  words  be  felt  alone  obligatory ;  follow  apos- 
tles only  in  so  far  as  they  follow  Christ ;  and  hear  sermons 
only  in  as  far  as  they  are  the  echoes  of  the  voice  of  him 
of  whom  God  said,  "  Hear  ye  him." 

Jesus  wrought  a  miracle  on  one  possessed  of  an  evil  spirit, 
that  tore  the  child,  and  left  him.  This  demoniac  possession 
is  a  thing  that  seems  to  have  passed  away,  and  of  which,  as 
far  as  we  can  see,  w^e  have  no  present  experience. 

But,  how  sad  that  just  after  this  beautiful  and  solemn  scene 
upon  Mount  Tabor  —  a  scene  that  one  would  have  thought 
would  have  left  an  indelible  impression  upon  every  mind 
—  that  just  after  the  apostles  had  descended  from  the  Mount, 
and  the  glory  that  shone  upon  them  was  scarcely  yet  quenched, 
"  there  arose  a  reasoning  among  them,  which  of  them  should 
be  greatest."  Pride,  vainglory,  ambition,  passion,  have 
raged  among  priests  from  Hildebrand  till  now,  wdiich  should 
be  greatest ;  instead  of  contending,  if  contention  is  to  be  at 
all,  which  should  be  most  useful,  they  are  contending  who 
shall  be  most  popular,  who  shall  earn  most  wealth,  who  shall 
attain  the-  loftiest  dignity.  And  whenever  ministers  of  the 
Gospel  are  actuated  by  motives  like  these,  strength  parts 
from  their  right  handsj  and  the  tongue  that  w^as  eloquent  will 
soon  cleave  to  the  roof  of  its  mouth.  Our  blessed  Lord, 
seeing  the  thoughts  of  their  hearts,  needing  not  to  be  told,  but 
seeing  the  inner  man  just  as  he  sees  it  now,  teaches  them. 
S  triking  fact  is  this.  All  faces  in  this  assembly  are  conspicuous 


152  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

to  me ;  the  dial-plate  of  the  mind,  that  sometimes  expresses 
the  mind,  and  sometimes,  as  Talleyrand  said  of  language, 
seems  given  to  conceal  and  to  disguise  it,  is  all  that  I  can  see  ; 
but  God  sees  the  thoughts  that  are  sweeping  through  the 
mind,  and  hears  the  beating  of  each  heart  just  as  truly  as  if 
there  were  but  that  one  heart  in  the  universe,  and  God's 
omniscient  eye  were  riveted  upon  it  alone.  We  should  try, 
my  dear  friends,  in  order  to  realize  our  position,  occasionally 
to  insulate  ourselves  from  the  crowd,  and  to  feel  this  thought, 
■which,  I  think,  has  its  precious  value,  as  well  as  its  solemn 
importance  —  that  Christ  sees  me  just  as  well  as  if  there 
were  no  other  individual  in  the  universe.  And,  oh  !  blessed 
thought,  that  he  died  for  me  just  as  if  there  were  none  else 
to  die  for  ;  and  that  he  loves  me  just  as  if  there  were  none 
else  to  love ;  and  that  he  takes  care  of  me  just  as  if  there 
were  none  other  that  needed  his  care,  from  the  height  of 
heaven  to  the  depth  of  the  earth  beneath.  Solemn,  but 
blessed  and  happy  thought!  Knowing  their  thoughts,  he 
took  a  child,  and  put  that  child  in  the  midst  of  them,  and 
presented  him  as  a  model.  Now,  in  what  respect  is  a  child 
a  model  to  us  ?  Its  grand  characteristic  is,  its  perfect  confi- 
dence in  its  parent ;  a  child  loves  his  parent ;  never  sus- 
pects his  love,  never  doubts  his  will.  But  as  they  grow  up, 
they  come  to  be  accustomed  and  acclimated  to  a  false  world, 
till  they,  too,  learn  to  doubt  and  suspect,  like  their  parents 
that  have  gone  before  them.  But  a  little  child  has  perfect 
confidence  in  its  parent ;  and  that  is  just  the  great  thing  that 
is  wanted  in  us.  The  great  want  of  Christians  is  confidence 
in  God  —  perfect,  unfaltering,  implicit  confidence;  or  our 
taking  God  at  his  word,  without  hesitating,  without  sus- 
pecting, without  doubting  —  saying,  'This  is  true,  and  we 
will  act  up  to  it  to  the  very  utmost,  and  are  sure  that  we 
shall  do  right. 

We  then  read  after  this,  that  John  said,  "  Master,  we  saw 
one  casting  out  devils  in  thy  name ;  and  we  forbade  him,  be- 


LUKE    IX.  153 

cause  he  followed  not  with  us."  Who  would  have  expected 
this  of  the  mild,  the  gentle,  the  genial  Evangelist,  John  — 
one  who  was  so  full  of  love  ?  Yet  it  teaches  us  that  the 
best  have  their  faults  —  that  there  are  few  gems  without  a 
flaw  —  that  there  is  no  gold  without  alloy  —  that  even  John 
had  one  burst  of  rash  and  unhappy  passion.  "  We  forbade 
him  to  do  it "  —  and  why  ?  "  Because  he  followed  not  with 
us;  we  are  Churchmen,  they  are  Dissenters;  we  wanted 
therefore  to  shut  their  chapels,  and  banish  them  ;  or.  We 
are  Roman  Catholics,  and  these  are  Protestants  ;  we  wanted 
to  pull  down  their  chapels  and  put  an  end  to  them.  That  is 
just  the  reasoning  of  human  nature  still ;  it  is  fallen  nature 
still.  Yfonderful  how  little  change  has  passed  upon  it  by 
the  lapse  and  flood  of  eighteen  centuries.  The  Churchman 
does  not  like  the  Dissenter,  because  he  will  not  follow  him ; 
and  the  Dissenter  does  not  like  the  Churchman,  because 
he  will  not  follow  him ;  both  forgetting  this  great  maxim  — 
that  he  that  is  not  against  Christ  is  for  him  ;  tliat  he  that 
preaches  Christ  must  be  on  the  right  side,  whether  he  do  it 
in  this  formula  or  in  that  formula,  in  this  communion  or  in 
that  communion  ;  all  that  is  not  opposed  to  Christ,  however 
much  we  may  dislike  it,  we  should  receive.  One  man  uses 
a  Liturgy ;  there  is  nothing  in  a  Liturgy  against  Christ,  and 
it  is  therefore  a  mere  matter  of  expediency ;  another  man 
uses  extemporaneous  prayer ;  there  is  nothing  against  Christ 
in  that,  it  is  a  mere  matter  of  form,  and  nothing  more.  And 
therefore  that  which  is  not  against  Christ  is  naturally  for 
him.  Let  us  learn  therefore  to  forgive  forms  in  which  we 
differ,  for  the  sake  of  great  truth  in  which  we  agree  ;  pre- 
ferring Gospel  truths  in  the  worst  of  forms,  to  Popish  or  in- 
fidel error  in  the  best  and  most  beautiful  ones.  Do  not  like 
your  own  form  less,  but  love  truth  more.  Be  ready  never 
to  sacrifice  truth  for  the  sake  of  the  form ;  but  often  be  ready 
—  always  be  ready  —  to  sacrifice  the  form,  if  needs  be,  for 
the  sake  of  the  precious  truth,  of  which  it  ought  to  be  a 
vehicle. 


154  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

Wc  then  read,  after  this,  that  the  same  passion  that  tried 
to  interdict  that  which  was  not  to  their  taste,  because  it  did 
not  follow  with  them,  here  burst  into  its  full  development  — 
positive  persecution  in  the  case  of  his  disciples,  James  and 
John.  Jesus  was  passing  through  a  village  of  the  Samari- 
tans, "  and  they  did  not  receive  him,  because  his  face  was 
as  though  he  would  go  to  Jerusalem."  Now,  why  should 
that  be  a  reason  ?  It  was  simply  this.  The  Samaritans  re- 
ceived the  Pentateuch  alone,  and  held  that  this  mount  was 
the  place  on  which  the  temple  should  stand ;  the  Jews  held 
that  Mount  Zion  was  the  true  mount  on  which  the  temple 
should  stand.  You  will  recollect  the  conversation  between 
Jesus  and  the  woman  of  Samaria,  as  an  instance  of  this. 
But,  so  jealous  were  these  two  sects,  that  seeing  Jesus  look- 
ing in  the  direction  of  Jerusalem  was  enough  to  awaken  the 
hatred  of  the  Samaritans,  and  therefore  they  would  not  re- 
ceive him  into  their  presence,  just  because  his  face  looked 
towards  Jerusalem.  "And  when  his  disciples,  James  and 
John,  saw  this,"  instead  of  trying  to  undeceive  the  Samari- 
tans (for  the  greater  a  man's  error  is,  the  more  anxious  we 
should  be  to  put  him  right),  instead  of  this  they  showed  that 
Popery  is  a  very  old  religion,  not  an  apostolical  religion, 
for  it  was  in  the  apostles'  hearts  before  those  hearts  were 
truly  renewed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  — "  his  disciples, 
James  and  John,  said,  Lord,  wilt  thou  that  we  command 
fire.to  come  down  from  heaven,  and  consume  them?"  What 
a  terrible  wish !  and  how  foolish  to  think  that  burning  a 
man's  body  can  at  all  rectify  a  man's  creed.  The  thing  is 
monstrous.  You  may  make  a  man  deny  from  intensity  of 
suffering ;  but  you  cannot  change  convictions.  Convictions 
are  stronger  than  thrones,  greater  than  kings,  and,  if  true, 
lasting  as  eternity  itself.  Never  let  us  have  the  least  sym- 
pathy with  prescriptions  for  extinguishing  another  body, 
because  it  will  not  join  witii  us ;  still  less  let  us  have  any 
sympathy  with  that  persecution  which  would  light  fire  upon 


LUKE    IX.  155 

earth,  or  call  down  fire  from  heaven  to  destroy  those  that 
differ  from  us.  If  the  fagots  are  to  be  khidled,  let  Hilde- 
brand  be  the  gatherer,  not  Protestants,  not  Christians,  not 
those  that  know  the  Bible  and  have  the  spirit  of  our  blessed 
Master.  We  see,  however,  how  early  persecution  Avas.  And 
what  is  more,  these  very  disciples  quoted  a  Scripture  prece- 
dent. The  fact  is,  you  may  quote  a  Scripture  precedent  for 
any  thing,  if  you  take  a  broken  fragmental  passage,  and 
apply  it  arbitrarily  to  what  you  want.  And  so  many  quoted 
of  old  for  persecution  what  took  place  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, forgetting  that  the  Old  Testament  economy  was  what 
was  called  a  theocracy  —  w^here  God  visibly  ruled,  audibly 
commanded,  and  visibly  acted ;  and  that  this  dispensation  is 
not  a  theocracy,  but  that  w^e  are  to  prefer  mercy  to  sacrifice, 
and  to  do  to  the  worst  as  we  Avould  that  the  best  should  do 
to  us. 

Our  Saviour,  it  is  said,  "  rebuked  them ; "  and  said,  in 
words  so  true,  so  just,  and  so  applicable,  "  Ye  know  not 
what  manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of"  —  no  idea  could  be  formed 
of  what  it  would  be  if  it  were  left  to  itself. 


CHAPTER   IX.    57-62. 

A  VOLUNTEER  —  EXTENT  OE  OFFER  —  ANSWER  OF  JESUS  —  TLACE 
OF  JESUS  ON  EARTH — JESUS  SAYS  TO  ANOTHER,  FOLLOW  ME  — 
FREACU  —  ANOTHER  EXCUSE  —  REASONS  WHY  MEN  REFUSE 
CHRIST. 

"We  have  alluded  to  following  Christ.  You  will  notice, 
that  the  first  individual  stated  in  the  passage  I  have  read, 
gives  unasked  and  unsolicited  his  pledge,  "  Lord,  I  will  fol- 
low thee  whithersoever  thou  goest."  He  was  not  asked  by 
our  Lord  to  do  so ;  he  volunteered  his  promise,  "  I  will  fol- 
low thee."  He  did  it  rashly ;  he  spoke  from  impulse ;  it 
was  not  the  result  of  well  weighed  and  deliberate  resolu- 
tion, but  the  expression  of  high-wrought,  but  speedily  evap- 
orating feeling,  originated  in  listening  to  him  who  spake  as 
never  man  spake.  He  looked  at  the  bright  side  of  Chris- 
tianity, he  shut  his  eyes  to  the  dark  side ;  or,  he  saw  only 
the  joy  that  sparkled  in  its  train,  he  did  not  see  the  sorrows 
into  which  all  its  professors  must  one  day  be  baptized ;  and 
therefore  he  said  rashly,  without  deliberation,  "  Lord,  I  will 
follow  thee  whithersoever  thou  goest."  In  itself  the  resolution 
was  beautiful,  —  "I  will  follow  thee."  What  duty  more  in- 
tensely devolving  upon  us  all  —  what  pursuit  more  delightful 
than  this,  "  I  will  follow  thee,''  — -  the  Teacher  who  is  infalli- 
ble ;  the  great  High-Priest,  the  only  Intercessor,  the  Perfect 
Examj^le,  that  has  no  flaw  and  no  failure ;  in  following 
whom  is  all  the  safety  that  the  human  heart  can  desire,  all 
the  progress  that  human  nature  is  capable  of,  and  that  sure 
and  ultimate  success  which   crowns  every  effort  made  in 

(156) 


LUKE    IX.  ]57 

divine  strength  to  follow  Ilim,  the  great  High-Priest  and 
Ensample  of  the  flock  who  has  preceded  us  to  glory.  The 
resolution,  I  saj,  was  most  Christian,  and  most  worthy  of  a 
Christian  to  entertain.  —  "I  Avili  follow  thee  Avhithersoever 
thou  goest,"  —  into  life's  sunny  places,  and  its  shady  places ; 
into  life's  trials,  adversities,  and  sorrows ;  into  life's  joys, 
and  blessings,  and  delights,  "  I  will  follow  thee  ; "  believing 
thy  lessons,  imitating  thy  example,  trusting  in  thy  interces- 
sion, and  looking  with  certain  assurance  for  thy  glory.  The 
resolution  expressed  by  this  man  was  most  unrestricted,  — 
"  I  will  follow  thee,"  he  says,  "  whithersoever  thou  goest."  I 
will  not  select  the  place  I  am  to  follow  thee  in ;  I  will  not 
object  to  the  path  thou  prescribest ;  I  will  not  embrace  this 
path  because  it  is  delightful,  and  reject  that  because  it  is 
painful ;  but  "  I  will  follow  thee,"  —  as  a  Christian  ought  to 
follow  Christ,  —  "  whithersoever  thou  goest."  And  the  res- 
olution, too,  is  full  of  persistency,  —  "I  will  follow  thee 
whithersoever  thou  goest,"  —  not  ceasing  to  do  so  at  any 
point,  but  following  thee  till  with  thee  I  enter  into  the  rest 
that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God.  And  the  resolution, 
too,  was  very  exclusive,  —  "I  will  follow,"  —  not  an  apostle, 
not  a  prophet ;  but  the  apostles'  and  prophets'  Lord,  —  "I 
■\vill  follow  thee  whithersoever  thou  goest ; "  as  if  the  utterer 
of  the  words  in  this  passage  had  lingering  in  his  memory 
the  accents  of  a  beautiful  resolution,  uttered  by  one  of 
old,  —  "  Where  thou  goest,  I  will  go  ;  where  thou  lodgest,  I 
will  lodge :  thy  people  shall  be  my  people,  thy  God  shall  be 
my  God."  But  v/hy  did  he  not  do  so  ?  Because  he  made 
his  resolution  without  knowing  all  the  extent  of  the  difficul- 
ties, the  perils,  the  losses  and  cares  it  necessarily  involved. 
I  said  in  the  beginning  of  my  remarks,  he  saw  the  crown, 
but  he  saw  not  that  the  way  to  it  was  by  a  cross  ;  he  saw 
all  that  was  bright  in  the  religion  of  Jesus ;  but  he  saw  not 
the  sorrows,  the  pains  —  it  might  be  the  martyrdom,  through 
which  the  faithful  followers  of  the  Lamb  must  necessarily 
14 


158  SCRirXURE    READINGS. 

pass  before  tlicy  appeared  with  Christ  in  glory.  He  had  a 
profile  view  of  Clirir^tianityj  lie  did  not  see  the  whole  por- 
trait of  what  it  is,  and  what  it  demands,  and  what  it  would 
necessitate  of  passing  through.  And  perhaps  he  erred  in 
this  other  respect ;  he  uttered  this  resolution  in  self-right- 
eousness. "/  will  follow  thee  ; "  as  if  he  had  strength  equal 
to  the  pursuit.  Never  is  a  man  so  weak  as  when  he  fancies 
be  is  strongest ;  and  never  is  a  Christian  so  strong  as  when 
he  feels  he  is  without  strength,  and  that  in  Christ's  strength 
only  he  can  do  any  thing,  in  his  own  he  can  do  nothing  at 
all.  Partly,  then,  with  the  rashness  of  impulse,  partly  in 
ignorance  of  what  was  involved,  partly  trusting  to  his  own 
strength,  he  gave  utterance  to  the  resolution  —  beautiful, 
just,  and  Christian  in  itself,  but  too  much  for  him  to  do,  to 
dare,  or  to  undertake, —  "I  will  follow  thee  whithersoever 
thou  goest. 

"What  was  the  answer  of  Jesus  ?  He  did  not  conceal  the 
road  he  would  have  to  tread ;  he  did  not  paint  the  blessings 
of  the  Gospel  in  the  richest  hues,  and  tone  down  its  trials 
and  its  dilliculties  till  they  almost  disappeared ;  he  would 
not  have  a  single  follower  to  come  after  him  with  his  eyes 
shut,  or  with  his  mind  ignorant  of  what  that  pursuit  neces- 
sarily implied  and  involved.  lie  told  his  followers  distinctly, 
that  "  through  much  tribulation  ye  must  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven : "  "  in  me  ye  shall  have  peace,  but  in  the 
world  ye  shall  have  tribulation."  He  said,  "  Foxes  have 
holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests ;  but  the  Son  of 
man,"  that  you  purpose  to  follow,  "  hath  not  where  to  lay  his 
head."  Will  your  resolution  stand  that?  Are  you  still 
disposed  to  follow  me  whithersoever  I  go  ?  You  have  said 
so  in  ignorance  of  my  place  in  this  world;  now  that  you 
know  it,  will  you  repeat  your  resolution  ?  The  silence  of 
Scripture  is  the  too  certain  proof,  that  when  he  learned  that 
the  foxes  of  the  earth  were  better  lodged,  and  the  birds  of 
the  air  were  better  off  than  the  Son  of  man,  that  the  reso- 


LUKE    IX.  159 

lution  formed  in  tlie  sunshine  disappeared  in  the  shadow, 
and  he  went  away  to  his  farm,  liis  merchandise,  or  his  worldly 
employments.     But  how  humiliating  is  that  answer  of  Jesus 

—  how  humbling !  "  The  foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of 
the  air  have  nests ;  but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to 
lay  his  head ! "  Jesus  could,  not  find  a  place  in  the  world 
that  he  had  made,  or  hospitality  in  a  heart  that  he  came  to 
save  and  to  sanctify.  "  He  came  to  his  own,"  says  John,  "  and 
his  own  received  him  not." 

Can  we  have  stronger  proof,  that  the  heart  of  man  is 
deceitful  above  all  things  and  desperately  wicked,  than  this  ? 

—  that  the  brightness  of  God's  glory,  the  embodiment  of  all 
that  is  pure,  and  just,  and  holy,  and  excellent,  and  true  — 
God  manifest  in  the  flesh  —  came  into  the  world,  and  the 
men  of  that  world,  who  might  have  been  expected  to  have 
hailed  him  as  the  Messenger  of  the  skies,  preferred  a  thief 
and  a  robber  to  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  sinners ! 
You  do  not  need  texts  to  prove  that  your  heart  is  worse  than 
you  ever  dreamed  by  nature ;  the  reception  that  we  gave 
to  the  Son  of  God  when  he  came  to  our  world,  and  the  re- 
ception that  thousands  still  give  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ  when 
preached  to  them,  shows,  that  if  it  needed  God  in  our  nature 
to  make  atonement  for  us,  it  needs  no  less  God  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  convince  us  that  he  did  so. 

After  this  another  instance  occurs  :  Jesus  said  to  another, 
after  the  first  had  gone  away,  "  Follow  me.  But  he  said. 
Lord,  suffer  me  first  to  go  and  bury  my  father."  Now 
recollect,  the  first  unsolicited  gave  the  promise,  or  expressed 
the  resolution  spontaneously ;  to  the  second  individual  in 
this  story,  the  command  was  addressed  by  Jesus,  "  Follow 
me."  The  first  might  have  been  silent ;  the  second,  by  hear- 
ing the  command,  instantly  came  under  the  responsibility 
of  doing  it.  Christ's  commands,  understood  by  us,  are  to 
us  and  on  us  instant  and  obligatory  duties.  The  man  that 
knows  what  Christ  commands  is  from  that  moment  under 


160  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

solemn  obligations  to  comply  with  that  command.  It  is  true, 
this  individual  did  what  many  do  —  gave  an  excuse  for  his 
obedience  at  the  moment ;  but  all  duties,  if  they  be  duties, 
are  in  the  present;  they  are  for  now,  not  for  to-morrow. 
The  fact  that  it  is  duty  involves  the  necessity  of  our  obligation 
to  observe  it.  If  there  be  an  excuse,  then  that  dispenses 
with  your  obedience  ;  a  duty  and  a  valid  excuse  are  incom- 
patible ;  if  there  be  a  valid  excuse  why  I  should  not  obey 
Christ,  why  I  should  not  believe  the  Gospel,  then  to  obey 
Christ  and  to  believe  the  Gospel  are  not  duties  devolving 
upon  me.  But  though  you  may  give  a  plausible  excuse,  no 
man  living  can  give  an  excuse  that  will  bear  the  ordeal  of 
a  judgment-seat,  or  that  will  even  bear  the  light,  the  inspec- 
tion, and  the  analysis  of  his  own  conscience  in  its  best  and 
purest  moments.  Now,  this  man's  excuse  was,  "  Lord^ 
suffer  me  first  to  go  and  bury  my  father ; "  that  is,  "  I  under- 
stand thy  command,  I  feel  the  obligation  of  it,  I  have  no 
doubt  that  it  is  my  duty  :  but  let  me  just  put  it  off  for  to-day, 
in  order  to  discharge  something  that  takes  precedence  of  it; 
and  then  to-morrow,  when  I  have  fulfilled  the  obligations 
of  my  home,  I  will  follow  thee  whithersoever  thou  goest." 
Now,  in  all  probability  this  Avas  a  pretence,  and  not  a  duty 
that  remained  to  be  done  at  all.  And  in  the  second  place, 
suppose  it  was  not  a  pretence,  but  that  his  father  lay  un- 
buried,  and  that  reverently  it  devolved  upon  him,  the  son, 
to  attend  that  father's  remains  to  their  resting-place;  he 
ought  to  have  known  —  at  least  we  know  —  that  no  duty 
that  we  owe  to  our  relatives  in  this  world  is  disposed  of  or 
interfered  with  by  our  first  fulfilment  of  the  duties  and  the 
obhgations  that  we  owe  to  God.  It  never  yet  was  found 
that  rigid  observance  of  the  first  four  Commandments  in  the 
least  interfered  with  the  most  rigid  observance  of  the  last 
six :  it  never  yet  has  been  found  that  our  obligations  to  God 
and  our  obligations  to  man,  if  the  latter  be  genuine,  have 
clashed  and  come  into  collision.     And  therefore  if  this  was 


LUKE    IX.  161 

true,  it  was  the  man's  first  duty  to  embrace  the  Saviour,  to 
follow  the  prescriptions  of  his  Lord,  and  to  be  quite  sure 
that  in  doing  so  he  would  find  time  reverently  to  commit 
dust  to  dust,  and  ashes  to  ashes,  in  the  hope  of  the  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead.  No  duties  that  we  owe  to  father,  or 
mother,  or  sister,  or  brother,  or  wife,  or  children,  ever  can 
be  excuses  for  disregard  of  the  duties  that  we  owe  to  God. 
No  respect  for  the  living,  no  reverence  for  the  dead,  should 
interpose  the  least  obstruction  to  our  faith  in  Christ,  our 
obedience  to  his  will,  our  sense  of  responsibility  to  him  as 
the  Lord  and  Maker  of  all  things.  It  was  right  that  this 
man  should  bury  his  father ;  but  when  he  urged  that  as  a 
reason  why  he  should  reject  Christ,  then  he  made  a  lesser 
obligation  a  pretext  and  an  excuse  for  dispensing  with  a 
higher  and  a  more  instant  one.  Obedience  to  Christ  will 
give  impulse,  not  obstruction  to  our  discharge  of  the  relative 
and  social  duties  of  this  present  life.  In  other  words,  the 
more  thoroughly  a  man  is  a  Christian,  the  better  father,  the 
better  brother,  the  better  husband,  the  better  son  will  that 
man  be.  Christianity  elevates  and  inspires  every  duty, 
lightens  its  load,  translates  duty  into  privilege,  gives  wings 
not  weights,  and  enables  us  to  do  the  most  difficult  things, 
feeling  that  his  commandments  are  not  grievous,  —  his  yoke 
is  easy,  and  his  burden  is  light. 

Jesus  said  to  him  that  it  was  not  only  his  duty  to  follow 
him  whithersoever  he  went,  but,  "  Let  the  dead  bury  their 
dead."  He  uses  the  word  "  Dead "  in  two  senses.  The 
word  "  dead "  is  used  in  Scripture  in  the  sense  of  insensi- 
bility —  "I  am  dead  to  the  Law ; "  that  is,  not  under  its 
obligations  :  "  I  am  dead  to  sin  "  —  that  is,  I  am  not  under 
its  influence.  So  Jesus  uses  "  dead  "  here  in  the  first  case, 
of  the  spiritually  dead,  and  he  uses  the  second  in  the  literal 
sense,  in  relation  to  the  man's  dead  father ;  and  he  says, 
There  is  a  duty  instantly  devolving  upon  you ;  and  if  you 
feel  that  duty  in  all  the  length  and  breadth  of  its  obligation, 
14* 


1C2  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

you  will  let  those  who  do  not  feel  it  yet,  but  who  m'ay  feel  it 
by  your  acceptance  of  it,  discharge  a  duty  which  anybody 
can  discliarge,  and  which  you,  in  present  circumstances,  are 
called  upon  to  postpone  to  a  second  place,  not  to  prefer  and 
place  in  a  first  place. 

And  then  he  says,  "  Go  thou  and  preach  the  Gospel " 
—  as  if  he  had  said,  It  is  not  only  your  duty  to  know  the 
Gospel ;  but  it  is  your  duty  also  to  preach  the  Gospel. 
People  often  fancy  that  a  class  alone  is  accountable  for 
preaching  Christianity;  but  the  truth  is,  every  Christian 
that  knows  the  truth,  knows  its  presence  in  his  heart,  is 
bound  to  preach  it.  There  are  different  modes  of  preaching, 
but  the  obligation  is  the  same.  Some  preach  by  their  silence, 
some  preach  by  their  eloquence;  some  preach  in  words, 
some  preach  by  deeds ;  some  preach  by  suffering  silently, 
others  preach  by  working  actively.  Every  man  has  his 
OAvn  gift;  but  every  man  that  knows,  feels,  and  loves  the 
Gospel,  will  in  some  formula  —  the  mode  that  Providence 
may  give  him  —  make  known  to  others  how  sweet  that  grace 
has  been  to  his  heart,  how  dear  that  Saviour  is  to  his  soul ; 
and  he  will  tell  you  that  he  cannot  but  speak  or  live  the 
things  that  he  has  heard.  A  man  that  does  not  desire  to 
extend  the  Gospel  to  others,  has  never  himself  felt  its  in- 
fluence in  his  own  heart ;  as  sure  as  a  man  is  made  a  saint 
by  grace,  so  sure  he  becomes  a.  servant  by  duty  ;  the  unc- 
tion of  the  saint  is  given  that  there  may  follow  the  duties  of 
the  servant.  It  is  first  the  prayer,  "  God  be  merciful  to  us 
and  bless  us,  and  cause  his  face  to  shine  upon  us ; "  it  is 
next  my  duty  — "  that  thy  ways  may  be  known  upon  the 
earth,  thy  saving  health  among  all  nations." 

The  third  incident  that  occurs  is,  "  Another  also  said, 
Lord,  I  will  follow  thee  ;  but  let  me  first  go  bid  them  fare- 
well, which  are  at  home  at  my  house."  Now  this  individ- 
ual makes  a  spontaneous  offer ;  but  his  excuse  for  non-com- 
pliance differs  from  that  given  by  the  former.     The  former 


LUKE   IX.  163 

professed  a  previous  duty  as  a  reason  for  Lis  non-compli- 
ance with  Christ's  command ;  he  professes  a  pleasure  that 
he  wished  to  enjoy  as  a  pretext  for  putting  off  till  to-morrow 
the  duty  that  devolved  upon  him  to-day.  Let  me  go,  he 
says,  a»d  bid  farewell  to  my  friends.  This  was  an  act  of 
courtesy  —  it  was  an  act  of  kindness ;  it  would  have  been 
so  far  a  gratification  to  him ;  but  when  God's  precepts  run 
cross  to  our  pleasures,  it  is  not  the  precepts  that  must  give 
way  to  the  pleasures,  but  the  pleasures  that  must  bow  to 
the  precepts.  This  man  therefore  seeks  the  enjoyment  of 
a  pleasure,  and  makes  that  an  excuse  for  his  non-compli- 
ance with  an  instant  duty.  Jesus  did  not  accept  his  excuse, 
and  the  reason  was,  no  doubt,  very  obvious  ;  that  if  he  had 
gone  and  consulted  Avith  his  friends,  who  were  strangers  to 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus,  probably  enemies  to  his  claim,  they 
would  have  persuaded  him  that  he  was  not  the  Messiah, 
but  an  impostor,  assuming  his  name,  and  professing  to  fulfil 
the  prophecies  that  belonged  to  him.  Jesus  said  to  him, 
This  will  not  do  ;  it  would  be  perilous  to  you,  it  is  not  duti- 
ful to  me ;  for  "  no  man  having  put  his  hand  to  the  plough, 
and  looking  back,  is  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God."  It  is  a 
proverbial  expression ;  it  implies  that  just  as  the  ploughman 
must  not  look  behind,  to  see  who  follows,  or  look  on  either 
side,  to  see  who  looks  on ;  but  must  keep  his  eye  on  the 
furrow  that  the  share  is  making .  in  the  field ;  and  if  he 
divert  his  eye  for  a  moment,  the  furrow  will  be  crooked,  or 
the  share  will  not  go  deep  enough,  in  the  same  manner,  a 
man  who  has  accepted  the  Gospel  must  set  his  whole  heart 
upon  it ;  it  must  not  be  the  subordinate  thing,  but  the  su- 
preme thing ;  it  must  be  the  regulating  thing ;  to  translate, 
or  rather  to  vary  the  figure  of  the  apostle,  he  must  run  the 
race,  he  must  direct  the  plough,  he  must  guide  his  course, 
looking  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  but  looking  unto 
Jesus,  the  Author  and  the  Finisher  of  his  faith.  There 
must  be  no  divided  allegiance  ;  there  must  be  no  half  of  the 


164  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

heart  with  Christ,  and  lialf  with  the  world.  Love  your 
relations,  love  your  friends,  love  the  good  opinion  of  your 
friends,  but  be  always  ready  to  subordinate  the  best  and 
choicest  of  these  loves  to  the  love  and  glory  of  your  Lord 
and  Master,  Christ  Jesus.  Christianity  does  not  enjoin  the 
maceration  of  the  monk,  or  the  withdrawal  of  the  nun,  or 
the  denial  of  the  joys  and  enjoyments  of  the  world  that  now 
is.  There  is  no  asceticism  in  the  Gospel ;  its  prescriptions 
do  not  enjoin  a  life  of  sadness  or  of  separation ;  it  asks  you 
to  enjoy  the  good  things  God  in  his  providence  may  give 
you,  but  it  gives  you  the  limit  and  the  law,  according  to 
which  you  are  to  enjoy  them  —  rejoicing  as  though  you  re- 
joiced not  —  using  the  world  but  not  abusing  it,  knowing 
that  the  fashion  of  it  speedily  passetli  away.  All  that  is 
demanded  by  our  Blessed  Lord,  is  that  you  shall  seek,  first, 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  then  look  for 
all  other  things  to  be  added.  Whatever  duty  you  engage  in, 
whatever  relationship  you  form,  whatever  change  you  make, 
if  you  be  a  Christian  your  chief  thing  will  be  the  Saviour's 
will,  and  subordinate  things,  but  true  things,  nevertheless, 
your  own  preference.  If  you  change  your  residence,  by  all 
means  look  for  the  best  residence,  in  the  best  situation,  at 
the  lowest  price,  most  adapted  to  your  convenience,  most 
agreeable  to  your  taste.  All  these  are  rational,  proper, 
Chi'istian  elements  ;  but  never  forget  that  there  is  something 
above  them  all.  Will  it  interfere  with  my  progress  in  con- 
formity to  Christ  ?  Shall  I  be  able  to  hear  the  Gospel  ? 
Shall  I  be  able  to  live  in  it  ?  Is  there  any  thing  inconsistent 
with  the  prior  duties  that  I  owe  my  Lord.  If  there  be,  all 
must  give  way  to  that,  not  that  give  w^ay  to  them.  In  the 
same  manner,  in  forming  any  relationship  in  life — in  se- 
lecting a  wife,  suit  your  taste,  your  preferences,  your  sym- 
pathies, your  feelings,  every,  thing  considered,  but  consider 
primarily  and  chiefly  this,  that  you  should  marry  in  the  Lord. 
The  Christian  graces  first,  beauty  next ;  the  riches  of  the 


LUKE    IX.  165 

heart  first,  the  riches  of  the  world  next ;  the  last  two  not  for- 
bidden, but  subordinate,  ever  subordinate  to  the  first  two 
graces.  So  in  every  profession  and  trade,  in  all  that  you  do, 
make  the  law,  the  word,  the  command,  the  glory  of  Jesus 
the  chief  thing ;  and  all  else,  not  to  be  extirpated,  but  to  be 
sanctified  and  subordinate  thereto. 

Thus,  we  see  that  none  of  these  were  valid  reasons  for 
rejecting  what  was  the  obligation  to  follow  Christ.  We  see 
from  all  this  how  some  persons  commence  the  journey  to 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  yet  stop  short  of  it.  Here 
were  men  ready  to  give  up  all,  but  some  one  thing  interposed, 
and  for  that  one  thing's  sake  —  it  might  be  a  father,  it  might 
be  a  flock,  it  might  be  Herodias  —  it  was  for  some  one 
thing  that  they  gave  up  the  obligation,  and  went  away  sor- 
rowing. 

We  see,  in  the  next  place,  that  the  greatest  and  most  suc- 
cessful obstruction  to  the  reception  of  the  Gospel  into  our 
hearts,  is  not  so  much  the  forbidden  love  of  things  that  are 
sinful,  as  the  excessive  love  of  things  that  are  lawful.  In 
each  of  these  cases,  the  excuse  was  not  sinful ;  to  show  rever- 
ence to  the  ashes  of  a  dead  parent,  was  beautiful  and  good ; 
to  go  and  consult  with  one's  friends  is  often  a  duty,  always  a 
pleasure;  but  to  make  the  one  or  the  other  —  most  proper 
in  their  respective  places  —  a  reason  for  refusing  to  comply 
with  the  prescriptions  of  our  Lord  and  Master,  that  was 
putting  the  pyramid  "upon  its  apex,  that  was  turning  obli- 
gation upside  down ;  that  was  giving  to  the  human  the 
allegiance  which  we  owe  to  the  Divine,  and  subordinating 
the  commands  of  Christ  to  the  pretences  and  the  pleasures  of 
the  world.  Never  forget,  then,  our  greatest  danger  is  not 
in  persisting  in  the  practice  of  things  that  are  sinful,  but  in 
our  excessive,  in  some  cases  idolatrous  love  of  things  that  in 
themselves  are  lawful. 

And,  lastly,  let  us  feel  tliat  true  religion  consists  just  in 
following  Christ;  not  as  if  he  were  only  an  example,  but 


166  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

also  as  an  atonement,  as  a  priest,  as  a  prophet,  as  a  king. 
When  the  Apocalyptic  seer  describes  those  that  are  in 
glory,  he  says  of  them,  "  These  are  they  that  have  followed 
the  Lamb  whithersoever  he  goeth,"  that  is,  that  believe  his 
word,  that  trust  in  his  sacrifice,  that  are  clothed  with  his 
righteousness,  that  follow  him  through  good  report,  and 
bad  report,  through  sorrows  and  through  joys,  up  hill  and 
down  hill ;  whithersoever  he  goeth,  it  is  their  privilege,  their 
pleasure,  their  duty,  and,  finally,  their  eternal  joy  to  follow 
him. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    SEVENTY  —  THEIR    MISSION  —  THE    FALL    OF    SATAN  —  JOY    OF 
JESUS  —  THE    LAW   AND    ITS    OBLIGATIONS — MY   NEIGHBOR. 

The  seventy  disciples  that  Jesus  appoints  upon  this 
occasion,  appear  to  have  held  a  temporary  commission  alto- 
gether. Tlie  language  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  apostles 
and  those  "\vho  were  to  follow  them  in  j)reaching  the  tidings 
of  the  kingdom  of  God,  indicates  a  permanent  institution ; 
but  the  language  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  seventy,  arid  the 
fact  that  the  seventy  do  not  appear  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
indicates  that  they  were  a  mere  temporary  appointment,  sent 
to  prepare  his  own  way,  and  to  make  ready  the  people  for  his 
preaching  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel.  But  whilst  they 
lasted,  they  were  gifted  with  those  powers,  which  clearly 
were  not  successional,  and  have  not  been  inherited  by  any 
minister  of  any  Church,  or  of  any  communion,  in  any  after 
age  of  the  world.  He  said,  "  The  harvest  truly  is  great," 
there  is  plenty  of  corn  standing  in  the  field,  but  there  are  few 
reapers  to  cut  it  down ;  and  if  not  gathered  into  barns  now, 
it  will  decay,  and  perish,  and  be  useless.  There  are  thou- 
sands of  souls  longing  for  the  bread  of  life,  ready  to  receive 
the  glad  tidings  of  the  kingdom ;  there  are  only  wanting 
men  to  show  them  the  way  that  leads  to  it,  and  they  will 
joyfully  accept  the  message.  Go,  therefore,  he  says,  yoiir 
way ;  but  you  must  count  the  cost.  Understand,  he  says, 
what  is  before  you.  "I  send  you  forth  as  lambs  among 
wolves,"  helpless  in  yourselves,  as  lambs  surrounded  in  the 

(167) 


168  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

world  by  fierce  Avolves :  be  strong  in  the  strength  of  your 
blessed  Master,  whose  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness. 
He  tells  them  when  they  entered  into  a  house,  to  wish  that 
house,  —  what  an  Eastern  5«Zrtaw  is  ^  still,  —  the  possession 
of  the  inestimable  blessing  of  peace  — "  Peace  be  to  this 
house."  And  then  if  they  accept  you,  be  satisfied  with  the 
fare  that  they  give.  Make  yourselves  more  than  worthy 
of  that  fiire  by  telling  them  of  the  living  bread  that  cometh 
down  from  heaven.  If  they  will  not  have  you,  then  let  them 
know  that  they  have  turned  away  a  great  and  precious 
opportunity  of  good,  and  that  they  will  have  to  answer  for 
what  they  have  done  at  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ :  and 
show  that  you  so  feel  by  wiping,  according  to  Eastern 
manners,  the  very  dust  of  that  city  from  off  your  feet,  that  it 
may  remain  a  testimony  against  them.  He  then  tells  us 
that  comparative  privileges  create  comparative  responsibiUty. 
Sodom  had  not  the  mercies  that  Chorazin  had;  this  city, 
again,  had  not  the  mercies  that  Capernaum  had,  and  Caper- 
naum had  not  the  privileges  that  we  have.  It  seems  here 
as  if  national  responsibility  was  not  forgotten  at  the  judg- 
ment-seat of  Christ  —  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  in  that  day 
for  Sodom  —  or,  perhaps,  it  means  the  inhabitants  of  Sodom, 
than  for  that  city  which  has  had  much  greater  light,  but  has 
criminally  and  culpably  rejected  it.  But  does  not  this  teach 
us  that  there  will  be  trial  at  a  judgment-day,  that  there  will 
be  retribution ;  because  it  speaks  here  of  comparative  pen- 
alty, and  that  comparative  penalty  indicates  that  there  is  a 
place  of  punishment  as  well  as  a  place  of  reward,  when  the 
great  drama  of  this  world  shall  be  closed,  and  all  shall  gather 
round  the  great  White  Throne  to  receive  according  to  the 
deeds  done  in  the  body,  whether  they  be  good,  or  whether 
they  be  evil  ? 

We  then  read  that  "  the  seventy  returned  again  with 
joy  ; "  and  they  stated  that  the  commission  they  had  received 
had  been  carried  into  practice,  and  they  found  that,  as  Christ 


LUKE    X.  169 

predicted,  the  very  devils  were  subject  to  them  through  the 
name  of  Ilim  who  had  sent  them.  Then  Jesus  says,  "  I  be- 
hekl  Satan  as  lightning  fall  from  heaven."  That  does  not 
mean  that  he  beheld  it  through  their  ministry,  or  at  that 
time ;  it  is  Avhat  is  called  by  critics  a  j^roleptic  statement ; 
and  means,  that  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  onward  to 
the  end  of  time,  is  the  ceaseless  descent  of  Satan.  Satan 
had  less  poNver  after  the  Flood  than  he  had  before  it ;  he 
had  less  power  after  tlie  Crucifixion  than  before  it ;  and  in 
proportion  as  the  kingdom  of  Christ  gains  footing  in  the 
world,  the  kingdom  of  Satan,  which  is  a  usurpation,  has  less 
power.  Now  Jesus  says,  I  saw  him,  not  with  the  speed,  but 
with  all  the  dying  splendor  of  the  lightning,  fall  from 
heaven.  The  very  simile  indicates  the  original  greatness  of 
Satan ;  and  that  even  now,  he  is  still  the  archangel  ruined 
—  I  saw  him  like  lightning  fall  from  heaven,  fie  then  tells 
them  what  power  he  gave  them  —  power  over  scorpions  and 
serpents,  and  over  all  the  power  of  the  enemy,  and  that 
nothing  should  hurt  them.  But  he  bids  them  rejoice,  not  on 
account  of  great  gifts,  great  po-vver ;  but  rejoice  because  they 
were  assured  of  their  everlasting  acceptance  in  the  sight  of 
God,  by  their  names  being  written  in  heaven.  It  is  then 
said,  "  In  that  hour  Jesus  rejoiced  in  spirit."  This  is  one  of 
the  occasions  where  w^e  read  of  Jesus  having  joy.  He  was 
never  seen  to  smile,  it  is  said ;  he  was  often  seen  to  weep ; 
but  on  more  than  one  occasion  he  is  recorded  to  have  re- 
joiced. And  prophecy  tells  us  that  "  for  the  joy  set  before 
him  he  endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame ; "  and  that 
the  travail  of  his  soul,  that  is,  the  triumph  of  his  cause,  will 
be  more  than  a  compensation  for  all  that  he  has  suffered. 
What  he  thanked  God  the  Father  for  on  this  occasion  was, 
that  he  had  hid  the  simplest  truths  from  the  philosophers, 
who  believed  they  were  wise  in  this  world,  and  that  he  had 
made  them  known  to  the  simplest  peasants,  who  were  despised 
as  stupid  and  ignorant,  likened  here  to  babes  in  the  kingdonj 

15 


170  SCRIPTURK     READINGS. 

of  God.  How  ollou  do  we  llnd  lliat  a  vciy  p;r('at  pliilosoplicr 
perplexes  himself  about  needless  and  uiiprolilable  (piestioiis, 
which  his  own  ;^enius  starts,  but  which  it  has  not  power  to 
lay;  while  a  humble,  illiterate  Christian  receives  the  truth 
just  as  that  truth  is  made  known,  and  derives  nourishment, 
and  support,  and  consolation  from  it;  while  he  does  not 
trouble  his  mind  about  many  a  perplexing  inquiry  with 
which  it  is  nearly  coimected.  The  fact  is,  the  more  one 
knows,  the  more  one  sees  remaining  to  be  known ;  and  ycry 
often  the  unsanctilied  inquirer  is  led  by  the  very  light  that 
he  has,  to  plunge  into  perplexities  Avliieh  he  is  unable  to  ex- 
plain ;  instead  of  waiting,  like  a  babe  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  to  know  hereafter  what  Christ  has  promised  lu;  shall 
know,  though  he  know  it  not  now.  God  has  revealed  in  his 
holy  word  enough  to  enlighten,  and  sanctify,  and  save,  and 
comfort,  but  he  has  not  given  a  line  to  gratify  mere  curi- 
osity, or  to  answer  those  endless  questions  which  do  not 
minister  to  our  cdilication. 

Jesus  here  pronounces  a  benediction  upon  the  disciples, 
because  of  what  they  saw  ;  and  says,  "  Blessed  are  the  eyes 
which  see  the  things  that  ye  see ;  for  I  tell  you,  that  many 
jjrophets"  —  that  is,  gifted  men  —  "and  kings"  —  that  is, 
excellent  men  —  "  have  desired  to  see  those  things  Avhich  ye 
see,  and  have  not  seen  them ;  and  to  hear  those  things  which 
ye  hear,  and-  have  not  heard  them." 

After  this  "a  certain  lawyer  stood  up,  and  tempted  him,"* 
—  this  docs  not  mean  that  he  tempted  him  to  evil,  but  tluit 
h(3  wanted  to  ascertain  what  amount  of  knowledge  he  had, — 
saying,  "Master,  what  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life?"  — 
a  very  important  question ;  but  he  knew  only  of  doing,  he 
ditl  not  know  of  believing,  in  order  to  obtain  etei'nal  life. 
There  are  two  Avays :  either  do  the  whole  law  i)erfectly, 
without  a  single  flaw,  from  the  first  pulse  of  your  heart  to  its 
last  beat  u[)on  the  brink  of  the  grave,  and  stand  spotless 
and  unblemished ;  or  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 


LUKE    X.  171 

lias  done  it  for  you,  and  in  your  stead;  and  llins  yon  sliall 
1)(^  saved.  It  ought  novel'  to  l)e  ibi-gotlen,  Unit  (Uh\  cxmcIs 
from  us  novv^  just  tlic  same  perfect  riglileonsness  tliat  ho 
exacted  from  Adam  and  Eve  in  Paradise  before  they  fell ; 
but  the  difference  is  here :  —  Adam  and  Eve  had  to  do  the 
righteousness,  and  in  their  attempt  to  do  it  they  failed  in 
innocence ;  hoAv  much  more  must  we  fail  in  the  fall ! 
whereas,  we  have  not  to  perform  the  righteousness,  and  *hus 
obtain  heaven  as  the  reward  of  what  we  do ;  but  we  hav.e 
to  accept  the  righteousness  done  by  Christ,  our  Substitute, 
and  justified  by  it  to  have  peace  with  God.  The  difference 
between  us  is,  that  Adam  worked  towards  heaven  in  order 
to  obtain  it ;  we  have,  by  grace,  already  obtained  heaven, 
and  we  work  because  we  have  obtained  it.  Tjndcr  the  Law 
it  was  doing  in  order  to  live ;  under  the  Gospel  it  is  living, 
and  therefore  doing;  we  believe,  and  through  faith  we  ac- 
cept that  righteousness  which  is  unto  all  and  upon  all  that 
believe.  Now  Jesus,  —  not  to  teach  this  man  that  he  was 
worthy  of  heaven,  or  was  righteous  enough  to  deserve 
heaven  ;  but  to  show  him  liow  coin[)lelely  he  had  come 
short  in  the  second  half,  and  therefore  the  most  practical 
part  of  the  Law  —  relates  to  him  the  following  incident. 
lie  first  says.  The  Law  is  this  —  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  tlry  soid,  and  with 
all  thy  strength,  and  with  all  thy  mind," — and  that  is  a  very 
blessed  and  merciful  law :  it  does  not  say,  Thou  shalt  love 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  an  ang(;l's  fervor,  or  with  an  arch- 
angel's strength,  but  with  cfU  thy  heart  —  no  more;  it  exacts 
of  the  creature  no  more  tlian  the  creature  can  be  expected 
to  give  —  not  with  more  or  hv'^s,  but  with  all  thy  heart  — 
"  And  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  The  man 
that  can  do  that  shall  live  by  it;  but  to  love  God  with  all 
our  heart!  —  alas,  how  many  rivals  arc  in  that  heart,  disput- 
ing the  sceptre  of  supremacy  every  hour !  How  often  is  God 
forgotten,  liow  often  forsaken,  how  often  is  man  ashamed 


172  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

of  him,  how  often  is  he  resisted,  how  often  despised !  Oh, 
to  speak  of  fulfilHng  God's  perfect  law  for  an  hour  is  to 
speak  of  absolute  moral  —  not  physical,  but  moral — impossi- 
bility. And  then  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves  —  not 
more  than  ourselves,  Christ  alone  could  do  that;  not  less 
than  ourselves,  but  just  as  we  love  ourselves;  ready  to 
share  with  him  in  all  things,  to  wish  him  the  same  good  that 
we  wish  ourselves.  Our  own  hearts  condemn  us;  and  at 
the  foot  of  Mount  Sinai  we  learn  —  we  feel  as  well  as  learn 
—  "by  deeds  of  law  no  flesh  shall  be  justified ;"  and  we  are 
taught  to  pray,  "  Enter  not  into  judgment  with  thy  servant,  O 
Lord,  for  in  thy  sight  no  man  living  can  be  justified."  Now 
to  put  this  self-righteous,  vaunting,  boastful  lawyer  to  the  test, 
Jesus  answers  him,  when  he  asks,  "  Who  is  my  neighbor  ?  " — 
you  wonder  that  he  should  ask  such  a  question.  The  rea- 
son that  he  asked  it  was  this  :  —  every  Jew  thought  another 
Jew  a  neighbor ;  but  a  Samaritan,  or  a  Gentile,  he  did  not 
think  his  neighbor  at  all.  It  was  their  intense  ecclesiastical 
sectarianism  that  made  them  think  so ;  just  as  we  often  find 
a  churchman  thinks  a  churchman  his  neighbor,  and  a  dis- 
senter thinks  a  dissenter  his  neighbor ;  but  they  cannot  see 
through  the  outer  robe  of  Church  or  Dissent,  and  recognize 
a  brother  notwithstanding.  He  asked,  therefore,  "  Who  is 
my  neighbor  ?  "  Jesus  answered  him  by  a  parable,  or  rather 
by  a  history :  —  "A  certain  man  went  down  from  Jerusalem 
to  Jericho," —  a  road,  according  to  Jerome,  that  was  exceed- 
ingly beset  with  robbers,  who  plundered  the  travellers  from 
Jericho  to  Jerusalem  —  and  "fell  among  thieves,  which 
stripped  him  of  his  raiment,  and  departed,  leaving  him  half 
dead.  And  by  chance,"  —  that  does  not  mean  that  there 
was  any  accident  in  it ;  it  is  a  peculiar  mode  of  expressing 
coincidence  of  events,  —  there  came  down  "  a  certain  priest 
that  way,"  who  ought  to  have  had  sympathy  with  the  suflferer, 
whose  office  it  was  to  minister  to  the  broken  heart,  and  pour 
balm  into  the  wounded  spirit ;  but  he,  with  all  the  contempt- 


LUKE    X.  173 

uous  scorn  of  a  Jewish  priest,  passed  by  on  the  other  side. 
And  a  Levite  —  a  superior  officer  —  passed  by ;  and  he  did 
more  than  the  priest,  for  "  he  came  and  looked  on  him," 
indicating  a  wish  to  help  him  ;  but  he  saw  that  there  was 
or  might  be  risk,  and  he  passed  by  also,  and  left  him.  A 
certain  "  Samaritan,  as  he  journeyed,  came  where  he  was ; 
and  when  he  saw  him," — that  Samaritan,  who  ought  to  have 
had  no  sympathy  with  him,  between  whom  and  him  there 
were  interchanged  only  hostilities,  — "  he  had  compassion 
on  him,"  —  which  neither  the  priest  nor  the  Levite  had, — 
"and  went  to  him,  and  bound  up  his  wounds,  pouring  in 
oil "  —  an  ancient  cure,  —  "  and  set  him  on  his  own  beast ; 
and  brought  him  to  an  inn," —  the  word  here  translated  inn, 
means  all-reception-house,  -navdoxdov,  a  place  for  receiving 
everybody ;  it  might  be  called,  as  our  public  vehicles  are,  an 
omnibus,  a  place  for  all  sorts  of  people,  — "  and  took  care 
of  him.  And  on  the  morrow,  when  he  departed,  he  took 
out  two  pence," — not  pence  according  to  our  money,  but 
about  fifteen  pence  ;  seven  pence  half-penny  being  a  denarius, 
or  a  penny ;  and  fifteen  pence  then  was  worth  more  than 
fifteen  shillings  now,  —  "  and  gave  them  to  the  host,  and  said 
unto  him,  Take  care  of  him," — that  is  your  duty ;  and  what- 
ever thou  spendest  more  than  the  fifteen  pence  that  I  have 
given  you,  w^ien  I  come  again  I  will  repay  you.  Then  Jesus 
says,  "  Which  now  of  these  three,  thinkest  thou,  was  neighbor 
unto  him  that  fell  among  the  thieves  ?  "  But  you  say  that 
this  is  not  a  proper  parable ;  because  the  one  that  was  re- 
lieved was  the  neighbor.  The  meaning  is,  that  he  that  helped 
was  neighbor  to  him  that  was  helped  ;  and  that  implied  that  he 
that  suffered  must  have  been  neighbor  to  him  that  so  kindly 
alleviated  his  suffering ;  if  the  one  was  neighbor,  the  other 
of  course  was  also.  And  then  the  Jew,  with  all  his  pride, 
but  with  a  smiting  conscience  —  the  convinced  intellect,  but 
the  ecclesiastical  pride  that  w^ould  not  venture  to  name  the 
name  of  a  Samaritan  —  said,  "  He  that  showed  niercy  on 
15* 


174  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

him."  He  could  not  muster  courage  to  say,  The  Samaritan 
was  the  neiglibor;  that  would  have  shocked  him;  but  lie 
was  obliged  to  say  it  substantially,  though  not  verbatim,  — 
"  He  that  showed  mercy  on  him."  Then  if  he  that  showed 
mercy  was  the  neighbor  to  him  that  needed  it,  he  that  needed 
it  was  neighbor  to  him  that  showed  mercy  —  the  one  was 
neighbor  to  the  other  ;  their  obligations,  their  relations  were 
reciprocal.  "  Then  said  Jesus  unto  him.  Go,  and  do  thou 
likewise ; "  and  by  doing  so  you  will  overcome  that  exclu- 
sive feeling  which  makes  you  think  that  a  Jew  only  is  your 
brother ;  and  prevents  you  from  seeing  that  wherever  there 
is  suffering  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  there  remains  a  duty 
for  you  to  discharge;  and  teaching  us  in  this  age  and 
century  that  wherever  there  is  want,  there  is  a  call  for  you 
to  feed  it ;  wherever  there  is  ignorance,  that  is  a  summons 
to  you  to  enlighten  it.  One  man  is  made  richer  than 
another,  not  that  he  may  exact  more,  but  that  he  may 
give  more ;  and  one  man  is  poorer  and  needier  than  another, 
not  that  he  may  be  trodden  down,  but  that  he  may  be  made 
the  recipient  —  the  grateful  recipient,  of  your  liberahty  and 
goodness. 


CHAPTER    X.    38-42. 


MARTHA   AND   MART. 


Behold  a  beautiful  domestic  scene;  a  family  portrait, 
simply  drawn,  true  to  nature  in  every  land,  interesting  and 
instructive  to  all.  •  In  this  blessed  Book  there  are  lessons  for 
kings  and  queens  upon  their  thrones,  for  parents  at  the  head 
of  their  homes,  for  brothers  and  sisters  —  for  all  ranks,  rela- 
tions, classes,  and  degrees  of  mankind. 

These  two  Christian  ladies  occupied  not  a  humble,  but 
rather  an  elevated  position  —  elevated  according  to  this 
world's  standard  —  in  social  life.  Their  house  was  fre- 
quently the  scene  of  hospitality  ;  their  hands  had  often  min- 
istered to  the  Man  of  sorrows  ;  their  brother  had  been  raised 
by  him  from  the  dead.  Their  home  was  holy  and  happy, 
because  consecrated  by  the  presence  of  Him  who  gives  to 
lowly  homes  a  beauty  that  princely  halls  have  not.  Without 
his  blessing  the  sheen  and  splendor  of  the  noblest  palace  is  but 
a  transient  beam  on  an  April  day,  showing  their  evanescence 
and  their  vanity. 

Martha  on  this  occasion  is  rebuked ;  Mary,  her  sister,  is 
praised:  yet  both  were  Christians.  Martha  was  a  true 
Christian  as  well  as  Mary.  But  tliere  are  degrees  of  grace  ; 
there  are  modifying  peculiarities  of  temperament.  These 
we  shall  see  evolved  and  delineated  as  we  proceed  with  this 
interesting  picture.  That  Martha  was  a  true  Christian  is 
plain  from  the  narrative  given  of  her  in  the  Gospel  accord- 

(175) 


176  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

ing  to  St  John,  in  the  11th  chapter,  where  we  read,  "Now 
a  certain  man  was  sick,  named  Lazarus,  of  licthany,  the  town 
of  Mary  and  her  sister  Martha."  AVhat  a  beautiful  dis- 
tinction to  a  town  !  its  proper  name  was  Bethany  —  the  house 
of  song  —  but  its  hoHer  and  its  nobler  name  was  "  the  town 
of  Mary  and  her  sister  Martha."  These  two  Christian  wo- 
men gave  to  that  town  a  distinctive  name  that  will  last  while 
there  are  hearts  to  be  affected  by  so  beautiful  a  narrative. 
"  Therefore  his  sisters  sent  unto  Jesus,  saying,  Lord,  behold 
he  whom  thou  lovest  is  sick."  To  show  that  Martha  was  a 
Christian,  at  the  20th  verse  we  read,  "  Then  Martha,  as 
soon  as  she  heard  that  Jesus  was  coming,  went  and  met  him  : 
but  Mary  sat  still  in  the  house."  You  can  see  at  once  the 
distinctness  of  the  characters,  related  by -different  Evange- 
lists. John  had  no  communication  w^ith  Luke  ;  Luke  had 
no  communication  with  John ;  both  their  portraits  are 
sketched  from  the  same  original.  We  can  see  the  meditative 
Mary  that  sits  and  studies  in  the  house ;  the  active,  the 
bustling  and  the  domestic  Martha,  who  is  ever  anxiously 
ready  to  show  to  her  guest  due  and  proper  hospitality. 
"  Then  said  Martha  unto  Jesus,  Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been 
here,  my  brother  had  not  died."  How  beautiful  is  this ! 
She  calculated  there  w-as  a  love  in  the  bosom  of  Jesus  that 
would  not  suffer  a  beloved  brother  to  die ;  and  she  assumed 
that  if  he  had  been  present,  he  could  not  have  resisted  their 
entreaty  or  the  temptation  to  heal  him.  "  But  I  know," 
says  Martha,  "  that  even  now,  whatsoever  thou  wilt  ask  of 
God,  God  will  give  it  thee.  Jesus  saitli  unto  her,  thy  brother 
shall  rise  again."  Now  Martha  replies  —  what  a  Christian 
alone  could  have  said  —  "  I  know. that  he  shall  rise  again  in 
the  resurrection  at  tlie  last  day."  Then  Jesus  preached 
what  came  home  to  her  heart.  "  Jesus  said  unto  her,  I  am 
the  resurrection,  and  the  life  ; "  by  that  he  either  imposed 
upon  the  listener,  or  he  was  the  mighty  God  ;  —  "I  am  the 
resurrection,"  —  my  voice  shall  ring  tlirough  the  homes  of 


LUKE    X.  177 

the  living,  reverberate  through  the  graves  of  the  dead;  and 
as  creation  came  into  being  at  my  bidding,  dead  humanity 
shall  rise,  and  stand  upon  its  feet  again,  as  soon  as  the  trum- 
pet shall  sound,  and  the  voice  of  the  Resurrection  and  the 
Life  shall  be  heard.  Then  he  said,  "  Believest  thou  this  ? 
She  saith  unto  him,  Yea,  Lord ;  I  believe  that  thou  art  the 
Christ,"  —  that  is,  the  Messiah,  — '■  "  the  Son  of  God,  which 
should  come  into  the  world."  There  can  be  no  doubt,  there- 
fore, from  the  testimony  of  John,  that  Martha  was  a  Christian. 
Her  conduct  even  on  this  occasion,  as  recorded  by  Luke,  in- 
dicates t7^aifs  that  none  but  a  Christian  could  have  developed. 
At  the  time  that  the  incident  occurred  which  led  to  her  re- 
buke, Jesus  was  persecuted  by  the  Scribes,  and  hunted  from 
place  to  place.  To  sympathize  with  him  was  to  be  guilty  of 
an  offence  in  the  sight  of  the  Rabbles ;  to  receive  him  into 
one's  home  was,  according  to  them,  to  commit  treason  against 
the  rulers  of  Israel,  and  to  disregard  the  decision  of  them 
that  sat  in  the  chair  of  Moses.  Martha,  notwithstanding  the 
peril,  received  the  persecuted  Man  of  sorrows  into  her  home, 
and  ministered  to  him  those  things  of  which  he  had  need. 
The  flower  that  blossoms  through  the  snow-drift,  and  flour- 
ishes in  the  midst  of  the  beating  winds,  must  have  its  root 
struck  deep  into  the  earth,  and  have  within  the  elements  of 
true  vitality.  She  who  could  thus  risk  a  barbarous  treatment 
because  of  her  faithfulness  to  her  Lord,  was  not  a  mere  pro- 
fessor, but  a  true  Christian ;  and  though  a  person  of  some 
distinction,  she  felt  ennobled  when  her  own  hand  ministered 
to  the  wants  of  the  Lord.  She  felt  that  those  hands  which 
would  be  nailed  to  the  cross,  had  often  ministered  to  her ; 
and  that  the  least  that  she  could  do  was,  that  her  sinful*  hands 
might  have  the  privilege  and  the  joy  of  ministering  to  him. 
All  these  features  indicate  the  Christian  woman ;  and  wo 
must  not  suppose,  that  because  there  was  alloy  there  was  no 
gold,  because  there  were  imperfections  there  was  no  Chris- 
tianity.    If  she  erred  on  this  occasion,  as  unquestionably  she 


178  SCTlirTURE    READINGS. 

did,  miK'li  may  be  said  in  palliation.  She  was  evidently  the 
eldest;  she  had  all  the  weight  of  domestic  duty  ;  she  had  all 
the  responsibility  of  prov  iding  for  every  visitor,  and  arrang- 
ing all  the  constituent  elements  of  her  home.  Having  all 
this  responsibility  resting  upon  her,  and  not  prepared,  as  she 
sup[)0sed,  as  she  should  be  to  receive  Him  with  all  that  was 
due  to  so  holy  and  so  beloved  and  so  illustrious  a  Visitor, 
she  did  —  Avhat  other  Marthas  have  done  in  less  provoking 
circumstances  —  she  lost  her  temper  for  a  little,  and  forgot 
what  vv-as  dutiful  to  the  Lord  of  glory  in  her  anxiety  to  pre- 
sent what  was  due  to  a  visitor  and  a  guest  in  her  home. 
But  if  there  was  palliation,  it  must  still  be  admitted  there 
was  also  blame  ;  and  the  blame  lay  less  in  what  she  said,  and 
more,  perhaps,  in  what  Jesus  saw  in  lier  heart  —  a  little 
pride,  a  sprinkling  of  vain  thoughts,  a  feeling  akin  to  that  of 
the  Virgin  Mary  at  the  marriage  feast  in  Cana  of  Galilee; 
afraid  that  her  home  should  be  seen  in  dishabille,  grieved 
and  vexed  that  she  v.-as  not  ready  to  entertain  this  Visitor 
with  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  which  she  thought  due ; 
ashamed  that  things  were  not  so  elegant  as  she  could  wish ; 
thinking  less  about  the  furniture  of  her  heart,  more  about 
the  furniture  of  her  house  —  more  anxious  that  the  outside 
of  the  platter  should  be  beautiful,  and  forgetting  for  a  little 
that  the  reception  of  Christ  into  the  heart  was  the  first,  if 
not  the  only  duty  that  she  owed  to  him.  It  was  the  excess 
of  a  taste,  beautiful  and  just  in  itself,  and  only  becoming  sin 
by  the  feelings  that  it  provoked.  But  every  one  has  his 
temptation,  —  what  is  called  his  "  weak  side,"  his  polarity  in 
evil,  his  besetting  sin.  AYitli  one  man  literature  is  his  idol ; 
with  a  mother  it  is  her  babe,  her  first-born  ;  with  a  statesman, 
ambition ;  with  some  great  scholar  or  mighty  soldier,  repu- 
tation or  renown ;  and  with,  many  a  Martha,  domestic  ele- 
gance—  spending  more  in  making  the  drawing-room  look 
beautiful,  than  in  making  the  heart  become  holy  in  the  sight 
of  God.     This  was  her  peril,  her  besetting  sin :  it  was  mercy 


LUKF,    X.  179 

that  it  showed  ilr^elf  tJicn  —  it  Avas  mercy  to  her  that  Jesus 
rebuked  it,  and  put  her  and  hers  in  their  proper  places. 
The  aggravation  of  Martha's  offence  was  clearly  the  loss  of 
temper  she  displayed.  She  was  bustling,  preparing  to  re- 
ceive with  due  dignity,  with  great  ceremony,  the  illustrious 
Visitor  she  had  received  into  her  house ;  and  while  she  was 
doing  so,  what  seemed  to  her  hot  temper  —  for  a  hot  temper 
is  iu  many  a  Christian,  and  sometimes  the  best  Christians 
have  the  hottest,  —  what  seemed  to  her  hot  temper  so  pro- 
voking was  the  coolness  with  which  Mary  sat,  drinking  in 
every  word  and  syllable  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  Ilim  that 
spake  as  never  man  spake ;  while  she  was  toiling,  strug- 
gling, excited,  liaA'ing  lost  her  self-possession  and  her  com- 
posure, in  order  to  arrange  all  that  was  within  for  the  re- 
ception of  the  Visitor  who  had  crossed  her  threshold.  In 
the  excitement,  therefore,  and  heat  of  her  temper,  she  said, 
"  Lord,  dost  thou  not  care  that  my  sister  hath  left  me  to 
serve  alone  ?  bid  her  therefore  that  she  come  and  help  me.'' 
This  was  the  language,  evidently,  of  temper  —  it  was  more, 
it  was  a  rude  interruption  of  holy  discourse  that  related  to' 
far  more  important  things ;  and  showed  that  she  was  more 
anxious  to  entertain  respectfully  a  friend  than  to  receive  in- 
struction from  the  great  Teacher,  —  thought  too  much  about 
the  guest,  and  too  little  about  Him  who  had  come  not  to  be 
ministered  to,  but  to  minister.  Now  we  can  see  j)recisely 
wliat  Martha  was  —  a  true  Christian,  excessively  attached  to 
her  home,  very  desirous  that  it  should  have  all  that  could 
possibly  be  desired  in  her  day ;  Avith  a  very  warm  temper, 
and  not  careful  to  restrain  the  expression  of  it  when  it  was 
tried.  People  who  are  true  Christians  are  too  often  too 
easily  provoked,  but  are  Christians  still.  Anger  is  not  sin ; 
I  do  not  believe  there  is  any  more  sin  in  being  angry  than 
there  is  in  being  hungry ;  it  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  origi- 
nal constitution  of  our  nature  ;  the  sin  consists  in  its  excess : 
and  that  is  a  lesson  that  we  all  need  to  learn.     The  Latin 


180  SCKirTURE    READINGS. 

poet  says,  "  PeriQius  in  licitus."  "  We  perish  in  things  that 
are  perfectly  lawful."  It  is  less  the  doing  of  what  is  sinful, 
and  more  the  excessive  attachment  to  what  is  lawful,  that 
destroys  souls.  So  in  anger ;  there  may  be  anger,  and  yet 
there  may  be  no  sin ;  there  may  be  anger  issuing  in  great 
sin.  What  does  an  apostle  say  ?  "  Be  ye  angry,"  —  I  do 
not  forbid  you  to  be  angry  —  but  he  does  forbid  sin,  —  "be 
ye  angry,  and  sin  not."  Anger  is  a  passion  that  ever  trem- 
bles on  the  very  verge  of  sin.  We  read,  that  Jesus  —  the 
very  Son  of  God  himself —  was  angry ;  but  then  there  is 
added,  "  being  grieved  for  the  hardness  of  their  hearts,"  an- 
ger dissolved  and  diluted  into  sorrow.  Anger  becomes  sin 
when  you  allow  the  sun  to  go  down  upon  it.  Many  a  true 
believer  is  harassed  with  a  very  hot  temper  —  many  a 
worldly,  carnal,  avaricious,  cold-hearted  man  is  calm  and 
placid  as  the  ocean  under  a  summer's  sun,  and  contrasts  most 
favorably  with  a  true  Christian,  who  has  the  misfortune,  as 
the  world  would  call  it,  not  to  be  gifted  with  the  same  amount 
of  cold  and  freezing  indifference.  We  see  in  Martha,  anger 
which  burst  forth  into  expressions  that  partook  in  some  de- 
gree of  rudeness,  and  at  least  interrupted  a  profitable  and 
useful  conversation ;  but  she  was  a  Christian  still. 

Mary  was  another  Christian ;  both  sisters  were  so  ;  but 
Mary  was  a  Christian  of  a  higher  stamp.  We  read  of  her, 
that  "  it  was  that  Mary  which  anointed  the  Lord  with  oint- 
ment, and  wiped  his  feet  with  her  hair,  ^vhose  brother  Laza- 
rus was  sick."  You  recollect  the  interesting  account  of  it, 
Avhich  we  found  in  a  previous  chapter,  where  she  showed 
love,  faith,  patient  self-sacrifice,  rich  liberality,  and  proved 
by  her  fruits  that  she  was  a  tree  of  righteousness,  the  plant- 
ing of  the  Lord.  Her  peculiar  character  as  a  Christian  was 
this  —  that  she  seems  to  have  had  less  temper  than  her  sis- 
ter Martha,  and  also  to  have  been  of  a  meditative  and  stu- 
dious temperament ;  she  so  appreciated  the  visit  of  the  Lord 
of  glory,  that  she  felt  she  dared  not  miss  one  word  that  fell 


LUKE    X.  181 

from  his  lips,  or  let  go  the  opportunity  of  hearing  tlie  pre- 
cious instruction  that  he  had  come  to  teach  them;  she  cared 
nothing  about  the  household.  Her  Christianity  was  of  a 
maturer  and  riper  nature  than  that  of  Martha ;  and  she 
teaches  us  that  the  younger  sister  may  have  more  grace  than 
the  elder  —  that  Christianity  is  not  of  flesh  nor  of  blood,  nor 
of  age,  but  a  spiritual  and  a  free  gift.  And  we  see,  too, 
that  constitutionally  —  for  it  does  not  teach  us  that  Chris- 
tianity did  it  —  she  had  a  milder  and  a  gentler  temperament. 
For  when  she  was  thus  rebuked  by  Martha  —  when  she 
heard  Martha  complain  of  her  to  her  blessed  Lord,  "  Lord, 
dost  thou  not  care  that  my  sister  hath  left  me  to  serve  alone  "^ 
bid  her  therefore  that  she  come  and  help  me  "  —  Mary  might 
have  said,  and  it  would  not  have  been  unchristian  if  she  had 
done*  so,  —  "  Martha,  I  may  be  wrong ;  but  this  is  not  the 
place  to  rebuke  me,  in  the  presence  of  our  Lord.  This  ia 
not  the  time  for  telling  me  of  my  faults ;  could  you  not  have 
waited  till  his  blessed  footstep  had  crossed  the  threshold,  and 
then  told  me  what  my  fault  was,  instead  of  passionately  pro- 
claiming it  before  all  ?  "  But  she  did  not  do  so :  she  was 
silent.  She  recollected  the  maxim  of  her  own  Scriptures, 
"A  soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath."  It  often  requires 
much  grace  to  be  silent  under  provocation,  as  it  does  to  be 
eloquent  in  defence  of  truth.  There  is  a  time  to  speak,  and 
it  needs  grace  to  enable  us  to  speak ;  there  is  a  time  to  be 
silent,  and  it  needs  as  much  grace  to  enable  us  to  be  so. 

Having  seen  Martha,  the  domestic  Christian,  busy  in  the 
arrangements  of  her  home ;  and  Mary,  the  gentle  and  re- 
tired Christian,  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  listening  to 
his  beautiful  and  instructive  lessons,  let  us  look  to  one 
greater  than  either  —  the  central  personage  in  the  holy,  and 
happy,  and  favored  group  —  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  him- 
self. He  came  for  shelter  to  their  home  !  he  makes  their 
reception  of  him  not  merely  a  shelter  to  himself,  but  a  bless- 
ing to  their  souls.     He  preferred  to  feed  with  living  bread 

IG 


182  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

them  that  hiiiip^ercd  i'ov  it,  rather  tlian  to  partake  of  the  most 
boiititiiul  rejiast  lliat  ihe  hands  ot"  industrious  Martha  could 
prepare,  lie  sliov;ed  on  this  occasion,  by  the  rebuke  that 
he  administered  to  Martlia,  tliat  he  would  rather  have  Mary 
listening  to  ^\luit  could  not  iirofit  liim,  but  would  profit  her, 
than  Marllia  serving  what  would  profit  him,  but  could  not 
profit  her.  He  came  not  to  be  ministered  to,  but  to  minister. 
It  Avas  his  "  meat  and  drink  "  —  what  an  expression  !  — 
"  to  do  the  will  of  his  Father  in  heaven."  By  his  presence 
the  home  of  the  sisters  was  elevated  into  a  heavenly  sanctu- 
ary—  that  domestic  circle  became  a  congregation  and  a 
church  in  the  liouse.  •  Let  us,  like  Mary,  bring  Christ  into 
our  home.  Let  us  bring  more  of  the  church  into  the  home, 
and  not,  like  IMartha,  bring  the  home  so  much  into  the 
church. 

We  have  seen  that  both  sisters  were  Christians :  but  you 
have  alreadj'  gathered  from  what  I  have  said,  that  there  was 
a  marked  constitutional  diiference  between  them ;  you  can 
see  underlying  the  Christian  influence,  an  aboriginal  and  a 
constitutional  difference.  I  do  not  believe  there  are  any  two' 
men  in  the  world  who  are  in  temperament  and  disposition 
the  same.  It  is  plain  there  are  no  two  faces  in  the  world 
cast  in  the  same  mould,  and  the  fac-similes  of  each  other ; 
and  I  do  not  believe  that  there  are  any  two  temperaments  in 
the  world  constitutionally  the  same.  These  two  Christians 
had  each  thx'ir  peculiar  tempers,  —  one  full  of  activity,  the 
other  of  meditative  retirement :  the  one  ever  delighting  to 
work,  the  other  ever  anxious  to  listen  and  improve.  When 
I  see  grace  influencing  a  man,  I  do  not  dislike  to  see  the 
traces  of  the  original  temperament  breaking  out  through  the 
sanctified  and  restraining  influences  of  the  grace  of  God. 
Christianity  does  not  macadamize  mankind,  and  lay  them  all 
down  upon  the  same  dead  level  —  turning  A  into  B,  and 
making  all  men  exactly  the  same  ;  but  it  seizes  the  peculiar 
temperament  of  each,  and  sanctifies,  restrains,  sweetens,  en- 


LUKE    X.  183 

nobles,  inspires  it.  The  stream  is  colored  by  the  bed  over 
which  it  rolls  in  its  course  to  the  ocean ;  and  the  Christian- 
ity of  every  man  is  toned  and  tinged  by  the  polarity  of  that 
man's  constitution.  And  instead  of  being  an  argument  that 
there  is  no  grace  because  the  hot-tempered  man  retams  his 
hot  temper  when  he  becomes  a  Christian,  it  would  seem  to 
me  rather  a  presumption  in  the  opposite  way.  The  re- 
maining traces  of  the  orighial  peculiarity  would  seem  to  me 
proof  that  grace  was  there  —  not  by  their  absence,  but  by 
their  being  subdued,  restrained,  sanctified,  guided,  and  di- 
rected aright.  Grace  leaves  Peter  still  Peter,  but  Chris- 
tian Peter  ;  and  John  still  John,  but  Christian  John.  Let 
anybody  watch  the  two  apostles,  Peter  and  John,  in  their 
whole  history;  nothing  can  be  more  marked,  no  features 
more  perfectly  defined  than  the  features  of  each.  Peter  all 
zeal,  all  fervor,  speaking  almost  before  lie  thoughtj  and  feel- 
ing far  faster  than  he  spoke ;  John  listening,  silent,  quiet. 
And  yet  it  is  very  striking,  as  recorded  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  that  though  Peter  was  the  only  speaker,  and  John 
stood  by  perfectly  silent,  yet  it  says,  that  the  Jews  took 
notice  that  both  of  them  had  been  with  Jesus  —  as  if  the 
silence  of  John  had  an  eloquence  as  convincing  as  the  action 
and  the  utterance  of  Peter.  We  thus  see,  that  grace  does 
not  extirpate  idiosyncracy ;  but  while  grace  does  not  extir- 
pate our  individual  peculiarity,  it  sanctifies  it,  restrains  it, 
and  puts  it  in  its  right  place. 

We  read,  in  the  next  place,  that  Jesus,  when  he  saw^Iar- 
tha  forgetting  her  Lord  in  her  guest,  and  her  Saviour  in 
her  visitor,  rebuked  her.  But  hoAV  beautiful,  how  tender 
Avas  his  rebuke!  "Martha,  Martha,"  —  no  recrimination, 
no  bitterness ;  that  was  impossible  in  such  a  case ;  but  it  is 
a  precedent  for  us  that  we  ought  to  take  notice  of — "Mar- 
tha, Martha,  thou  art  careful,"  —  that  is  the  translation  of 
the  same  word  which  occurs  in  the  5tli  chapter  of  St.  JMat- 
tliew,  where  Jesus  says,  "  Take  no  thought  for  the  morrovr." 


184  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

It*  you  were  to  understand  that  in  the  liglit  that  you  are  not 
to  think  how  you  shall  get  bread  for  to-moi-row,  it  would  be 
very  stupid,  and  very  unchristian,  and  very  improper.  You 
are  bound  to  exercise  forethought ;  you  are  bound  to  make 
provision  for  to-morrow ;  but  the  expression  is  "  Feel  no 
carking  anxiety ; "  and  the  meaning  of  the  Greek  word 
ukpniva  is,  irritating,  perplexing,  anxious  thought.  Well,  he 
says,  take  thought  of  the  provision ;  but  do  not  take  that 
distrustful,  irritating,  perplexing,  anxious  thought,  which  can 
do  no  good  for  to-morrow,  and  which  must  destroy  your 
peace  for  to-day.  So  he  says  to  Martha  here,  "  Martlia, 
Martha,  thou  art  careful  about  many  things."  To  be  care- 
ful about  a  thing  is  proper ;  if  I  were  obliged  to  sweep  a 
crossing,  I  should  feel  it  a  duty  to  be  careful  in  the  sweep- 
ing of  that  crossing ;  if  I  were  a  servant,  I  should  be  care- 
ful that  I  attended  to  the  business  of  my  master.  But  it  is 
sinful  to  be,  as  Martha  was,  excessively  careful  —  irritated, 
perplexed,  fevered,  if  I  might  use  the  expression,  about 
many  things.  And  not  only  does  he  say  she  was  careful, 
but  he  adds  also,  "  troubled."  The  word  is  derived  from  a 
Greek  word  which  means  disturbed,  overwhelmed  —  under- 
taking too  much  in  order  to  make  arrangements  for  the 
reception  of  me. 

But  is  there  not  many  a  Martha  in  the  year  1854?  Are 
there  not  some  here,  —  a  mother,  a  daughter,  a  sister,  a 
brother  —  who  have  all  Martha's  anxious  cares,  without 
Marflia's  redeeming  graces  to  sanctify  and  to  sustain  them  ? 
Is  there  not  a  Martha  —  if  not  many,  at  least  one  —  in  this 
assembly,  whose  mornings  are  occupied  with  preparations 
for  the  day,  whose  evenings  are  occupied  with  anxious 
preparations  for  to-morrow  ?  To  such  a  one  I  appeal,  Does 
religion  occupy  its  just  place  in  your  heart?  Do  you  think 
of  Jesus  —  the  soul  —  eternity  —  heaven  —  responsibility — 
duty?  Do  thoughts  of  a  house  not  made  with  hands  enter 
your  home  sometimes  during  the  day,  entertained  as  angels 


LUKE    X.  .  185 

unawares?  —  or,  is  the  day  spent  witlioiit  one  thonglit  about 
the  furniture  of  the  soul;  all  thoughts  absorbed  about  the 
furniture  of  the  body?  Is  the  church  never  present  in 
your  home  upon  the  Aveekday  ?  And,  alas,  alas !  is  your 
home  present  in  the  church  upon  the  Sabbath  day  ?  Mar- 
tha, Martha,  thou  art  careful  about  many  things,  and  thou 
forgettest,  amid  all  these  many  things,  that  one  thing  is 
essentially  needful.  But  how  mild  was  the  rebuke,  and  yet 
how  instructive :  Martha's  sin  is  as  instructive  to  us  as 
Mary's  Christian  virtue.  The  record  of  the  one  is  the 
record  of  her  failing,  that  Martha's  successors  may  learn ; 
the  holy  quiet  of  the  other  is  the  exhibition  of  a  precedent, 
that  other  Marys  in  the  world  may  have  grace  to  imitate. 

He  concludes  with  this  beautiful  and  truly  instructive  re- 
mark, "  One  thing  is  needful."  What  does  this  mean  ? 
Many  things  are  useful ;  many  things  are  ornamental,  very 
many  things  are  desirable  ;  and  we  should  not  be  human  if 
we  were  not  conscious  of  these  emotions  ;  but  the  salvation 
of  the  soul,  the  acceptance  of  the  Saviour,  fitness  for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  —  in  other  words,  true  religion,  that  is, 
amid  all  things,  the  one  thing  that  is,  what  other  things  are 
not,  essentially  necessary. 

Now  some  things  are  accidentally  needful,  not  essential. 
Medicine  for  the  sick  is  needful  for  to-day,  but  not  always. 
There  are  many  things  that  are  occasionally  needful ;  there 
are  other  things  that  are  partially  needful :  but  this  is  essen- 
tially needful,  this  is  always  needful,  this  is  universally 
needful.  And  why  should  true  religion  —  using  that  word 
as  an  epitome  of  all  that  the  Gospel  is  —  why  should  this 
be  thus  essentially  needful  ?  First,  it  replaces  man  in  his 
lost  and  forfeited  dignity.  Sin  has  degraded  man  ;  his  intel- 
lect is  deranged,  his  heart  is  turned  from  God,  his  affections 
are  spent  upon  earth  ;  he  is  far  from  God,  he  is  in  a  distant 
land,  living  upon  the  husk^  that  the  swine  do  eat,  and  a 
wanderer  from  his  Father's  home.  True  religion  ^-  using 
IG* 


186  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  word  as  a  comprehensive  expression  —  transforms  the 
sinner  into  the  servant,  the  servant  into  the  son,  the  son  into 
the  heir  —  the  heir  of  God,  and  the  joint-heir  with  Christ. 
It  gives  harmony  to  the  powers  of  his  intellect,  sanctity  to 
the  affections  of  his  heart,  peace  to  his  conscience.  The 
presence  of  that  religion  must  be  happiness ;  in  the  absence 
of  it  earth's  best  things  are  but  burdens,  they  never  can  be 
satisfactory  blessings. 

In  the  second  place,  this  one  thing,  —  true  religion,  salva- 
tion, the  knowledge  of  the  Saviour,  —  is  the  one  thing  need- 
ful for  present  happiness.  There  are  many  things,  I  have 
said,  desirable,  many  things  that  are  ornamental,  many 
things  that  are  positive  enjoyments.  Lands  and  houses, 
and  money  to  spare,  are  most  enjoyable  things ;  and  that 
man  must  be  a  hypocrite  or  a  stoic  who  says  he  has  no  wish 
for  these  things.  It  does  not  imply,  because  they  are  not 
the  one  thing  needful,  that  they  are  not  things  in  themselves 
desirable.  All  that  we  say  of  them,  however,  is  what  our 
blessed  Lord  designs  here  to  teach  —  that  there  can  be  no 
real  and  lasting  happiness  in  the  heart  till  the  soul  has  found 
its  Saviour  and  its  rest  in  God.  Man's  soul  must  be  un- 
happy till  it  knows  the  way  to  heaven,  and  has  some  dear 
and  bright  hope  of  attaining  that  blessed  goal.  I  wonder 
how  any  man  on  earth  can  have  one  moment's  ease  who  has 
not  some  strong  foundation  on  which  he  can  lay  the  stress 
of  his  everlasting  prospects.  What  is  the  longing  of  all 
mankind  ?  Happiness.  What  explains  the  excitement  of 
men  ?  '  Their  longing  for  happiness.  The  soul  in  every 
man  feels  it  has  lost  its  rest,  it  feels  it  has  lost  something 
that  was  its  peace,  and  it  knows  not  where  to  find  it.  It 
seeks  out  every  cistern,  and  appeals  to  every  source ;  it 
goes  to  mammon,  and  it  says,  "  Make  me  happy ; "  it  goes 
to  the  objects  of  ambition,  and  it  cries,  "  Give  me  happi- 
ness ; "  it  goes  to  trade,  or  to  pleasure,  'or  to  dissipation,  or 
to  folly,  to  seek  happiness.     These  are  evidences  of  a  rest- 


LUKE    X.  187 

lessness  that  will  not  suffer  the  soul  to  domesticate  itself  in 
this  world,  and  that  prove  that  it  belongs  originally  and 
really  to  a  higher,  if  only  it  knew  the  way  to  that  higher 
and  better  world.  But  the  instant  I  know  that  I  am  re- 
stored to  my  communion  with  God  —  that  I  am  a  son 
accepted  by  my  Father  —  that  my  sins  are  forgiven  —  that 
my  nature  is  renewed  —  that  I  have  peace  with  God  —  I 
can  take  all  the  things  I  have  mentioned  as  desirable,  enjoy- 
able, ornamental;  and  when  God  is  pleased  to  take  them 
away,  I  can  let  them  go ;  I  have  got  that  which  is  a  com- 
pensation for  the  loss  of  all ;  I  have  that  which  is  consecra- 
tion, when  I  have  the  possession  of  all. 

But  this  one  thing  is  needful ;  not  only  to  give  us  happi- 
ness, but  it  is  needful  in  an  hour  that  comes  to  most  people 
sooner  or  later  —  the  hour  of  ajffliction.  I  have  often  w^on- 
dered  how  a  mere  worldly  man,  without  any  religion,  can 
bear  the  troubles  and  losses  that  we  experience  in  this  life  ; 
"when  the  herd  in  the  stall"  —  to  use  the  language  of  the 
prophet  —  "  and  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  and  the  labor  of  the 
olive,"  are  all  that  we  have,  and  when  the  whirlwind  sweeps 
them  away,  I  do  not  wonder  that  man  becomes  a  suicide,  I 
only  wonder  that  there  are  not  more  suicides.  I  know 
nothing  that  can  sustain  man  in  this  world  amid  its  vicissi- 
tudes, its  changes,  its  bitter  losses,  its  heavy  cares,  but  — 
true  religion,  or  a  sure  hope  beyond  us.  I  wonder  how  you 
men  of  business  get  on  at  all  without  it ;  I  wonder  how  if 
is  possible  to  have  one  moment's  peace  without  the  sustain- 
ing presence  of  that  fountain  of  living  water  that  flows- 
through  life's  desert  places,  and  freshens  them,  and  makes 
its  very  wildernesses  rejoice,  and  blossom  like  the  rose. 
When  all  is  lost,  however,  to  a  Christian  —  when  his  riches 
take  wings  and  flee  away ;  when  the  estate  is  taken  from 
the  owner  —  he  can  say  what  the  prophet  said  in  a  passage 
I  have  often  quoted,  "  Though  the  fig-tree  shall  not  blossom, 
neither  shall  be  fruit  in  the  vines ;  thoudi  the  labor  of  the 


188  SCRlPTUllE    HEADINGS.  ^ 

olive  shall  fail,  .and  the  fields  shall  yield  no  meat,  and  the 
flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  tlie  fold ;"  yet,  in  spite  of  all  tliis  — 
in  spite  of  catastrophe  upon  catastrophe,  and  loss  heaped  upon 
loss,  I  will  not  commit  suicide,  I  will  not  become  deranged, 
I  will  not  steal,  I  will  not  do  injustice,  and  I  will  not  be  in- 
sensible—  for  a  man  is  a  man, not  a  stoic;  he  is  not  granite, 
but  flesh  and  blood ;  I  will  do  w^hat  a  Christian  alone  can 
do  —  "I  wiU  rejoice,"  says  the  prophet,  "in  the  Lord,  and 
joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation,"  who  is  a  substitute  and  a 
compensation  for  all. 

Should  there  be  in  this  assembfy  some  Martha  —  should 
her  first-born  babe  be  snatched  from  her  bosom  by  the  hand 
of  death  —  and  there  is  no  sorrow  equal  to  a  mother's  sor- 
row over  the  loss  of  her  first-born  and  only  child  —  all  com- 
fort then  is  commonplace ;  all  that  you  may  say  is  utterly 
worthless ;  but  if  she  be  a  Christian,  you  may  approach  her 
with  hope  —  you  need  not  hesitate.  Draw  near  and  you 
will  see  that  though  she  weeps  and  feels  most  poignantly, 
she  can  say,  what  a  voice  from  above  inspires,  — "  The 
Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away ;  blessed  be  the 
name  of  the  Lord."  "  The  cup  that  my  Father  hath  given 
me  to'  drink,  shall  I  not  drink  it  ?  "  To  that  mother  death 
will  be  more  welcome  when  he  comes  to  herself,  because  he 
has  taken  the  babe  that  has  preceded  her,  and  heaven  w411 
be  more  holy  and  welcome  to  her  because  it  is  only  the  dis- 
'tant  colony  to  which  her  babe  has  gone  to  welcome  her  upon 
the  threshold  of  gloiy,  when  death-divided  friends  shall  meet 
to  part  no  more.  But  true  religion  is  not  only  needed  in 
afiiiction,  but  it  is  needed  in  that  hour  that  will  come  to  you, 
and  that  comes  to  all  —  when  we  must  lie  down  and  die.  I 
have  often  said,  what  I  think  is  so  true,  that  there  is  nothing 
upon  earth  so  horrible  as  death.  There  is  nothing,  I  believe, 
that  happens  to  us  so  totally  humbling  as  death.  The  con- 
trast between  man  in  the  full  vigor  of  life,  the  full  play  and 
possession  of  all  his  powers,  and  man  dying,  breathing  out 
his  last  gasp  in  death,  is  awful. 


LUKE    X.  189 

Depend  upon  it,  God  never  made  us  to  die ;  we  were 
never  meant  to  die.  Something  else  explains  that;  God 
made  us  to  be  immortal  —  to  be  holy  and  happy  for  ever  ; 
but  sin  entered,  and  the  child  of  sin  —  death,  entered  by  it. 
Saint  and  sinner  must  both  die.  And,  my  dear  friends,  you 
know  quite  well  that  under  the  deep  sense  of  the  loss  of  some 
truly  beloved  one,  every  thing  in  this  world  seems  most 
worthless.  I  venture  to  assert  that  the  proudest  peer  in 
England  feels  his  coronet  no  better  than  a  gilded  toy  when 
he  takes  it  into  that  closet  where  the  ashes  of  the  dear  dead 
lie  waiting  for  a  grave.  And  you  yourselves  well  know 
that  when  death  comes,  all  wealth,  all  property,  all  honor, 
all  renown,  —  how  light  will  they  weigh  at  that  solemn  mo- 
ment? Now,  my  dear  friends,  when  that  hour  comes  — 
and  it  must  come  —  to  you,  when  physicians  can  do  no  good, 
when  beds  of  down  shall  have  no  softness,  when  the  greatest 
delicacies  shall  have  no  sweetness  —  to  feel  at  that  hour  the 
hand  of  your  Father  laid  upon  the  feeble,  faltermg  heart, 
—  to  see  breaking  inward  from  afar  the  rays  of  the  eternal 
sun,  and  to  feel  that  his  setting  in  the  west  is  only  to  rise  in 
the  everlasting  and  the  glorious  east  —  oh !  no  wonder  that 
Christians  have  exclaimed  in  the  ecstasy  of  a  dying  hour, 
what  they  never  Avere  able  to  give  expression  to  in  a  living 
one,  "  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O  grave,  where  is  thy 
victory?  Thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  Absent  from  the  body  is 
to  be  present  with  the  Lord.  Silence  to  me  at  a  dying  hour 
the  beautiful  voice  of  Christianity,  life  would  be  intolerable, 
death  would  be  utter  despair.  I  should  have  no  taper  on 
earth  ;  I  should  have  no  star  in  the  heavens  ;  I  should  have 
an  avalanche,  cold,  and  heavy,  and  insufferable,  on  my  heart : 
but  give  me  this  blessed  truth  —  that  Jesus  bore  my  sins, 
that  his  blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin,  that  death  is  to  me,  not 
extinction,  but  that  it  is  only  change,  and  I  have  peace.  I 
visited  yesterday  a  member  of  this  church  trembling  upon  the 


190  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

verge  of  the  tomb,  and  that  person,  composed  and  calm,  said, 
"  I  have  as  perfect  peace  as  if  I  were  in  lieaven."  And  what 
was  that  perfect  peace  ?  Just  the  knowledge  that  her  sins  had 
been  washed  away  in  the  blood  of  Jesus  ;  and  that  not  because 
of  any  thing  she  has  done,  but  because  of  what  Jesus  has  done 
for  her,  she  has  an  assured  hope  of  immortality  and  glory. 
Give  me  true  religion  in  my  heart,  and  I  am  free  of  heaven 
and  of  earth  ;  I  have  in  Christ's  name  the  pass-word  of  the 
very  universe,  that  all  angels  and  archangels,  and  cherubim 
and  seraphim  will  respect,  and  make  way  for  me,  the  heir 
of  God,  for  admission  to  my  everlasting  rest. 

Such,  then,  is  the  blessedness  of  having  that  one  thing. 
It  is  needful  to  replace  us  in  our  lost  position  ;  it  is  needful 
for  happiness  in  this  world ;  it  is  needful  in  affliction ;  and 
oh !  it  is  needful  —  the  one  thing  needful  —  in  the  hour 
of  dying.  In  all  time  of  our  tribulation,  in  all  time  of  our 
wealth,  in  the  hour  of  death,  and  in  the  day  of  judgment, 
blessed  Jesus,  be  thou  to  us  the  one  thing  needful,  the  one 
thing  we  value. 

"  Mary  hath  chosen  that  good  part,  which  shall  not  be 
taken  away  from  her."  I  will  conclude  with  the  beauti- 
ful and  appropriate  collect  that  we  often  sing  here  —  that 
occurs  in  that  collection  of  beautiful  prayers,  the  Prayer- 
book  of  the  Church  of  England :  —  "  Lord  of  all  power  and 
might,  who  art  the  Author  and  Giver  of  all  good  things, 
graft  in  our  hearts  the  love  of  thy  holy  name,  —  increase  in 
us  true  religion,"  —  the  one  thing  essentially  needful,  — 
"nourish  us  with  ail  goodness,  and  of  thy  great  mercy 
keep  us  in  the  same,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
Amen." 


CHAPTER    X.    42. 


ONE   THING   NEEDFUL. 


I  REMARKED  on  the  previous  words,  "  One  thing  is  need- 
ful," that  Martha  was  a  true  Cliristian,  but  with  too  many 
of  the  cares  of  the  world,  like  weights  attached  to  her  heart, 
and  prcA-enting  that  upward,  and  onward,  and  speedy  prog- 
ress Avhich  became  one  brought  so  near  and  cherished  so 
dear  by  our  blessed  Lord.  On  this  occasion  there  was  much 
to  palhate  her  conduct,  while  there  was  much  in  her  con- 
duct also  that  was  greatly  to  be  blamed.  I  say  there  was 
mucli  to  palliate  her  conduct  in  this,  that  her  very  error 
arose  from  the  excess  of  her  zeal  suitably  and  with  proper 
dignity  to  give  hospitality  to  Him  whom  she  felt  she  was 
not  Avorthy  to  receive  under  her  .roof.  There  vras  much 
blame,  in  the  fact  that  she  lost  her  equanimity  of  temper, 
interrupted  the  divine  conversation  of  her  blessed  Lord,  and 
said  ^'udely,  and  not  as  became  a  Christian,  "  Lord,-  dost 
thou  not  care  that  my  sister  hath  left  me  to  serve  alone  ?  bid 
her  therefore  that  she  come  and  help  me."  Jesus  then  in- 
stantly said  to  her  —  instruction  and  rebuke  being,  so  blended 
that  the  rebuke  could  not  offend,  and  the  instruction  could 
not  but  profit  —  "  Martha,  Martha,  thou  art  careful " —  that 
is,  anxious.  It  is  the  same  word  that  our  Lord  employs 
when  he  says,  "  Take  no  thought  for  the  morrow  "  —  that 
is,  no  perplexing,  irritating,  harassing  thought  —  "  thou  art 
careful  and  troubled  about  many  things ; "  but  there  is  only 

(191) 


192  SCRirTUKE    HEADINGS. 

one  thing  that  is  essentially  neediiil.  Many  things  are 
ornamental ;  many  things  are  desirable ;  many  things  are 
proper  in  their  place ;  but  there  is  one  thing  always  and 
everywhere  needful,  essential  in  its  nature  and  lasting  in  its 
possession.  And  then  he  adds  what  is  commendatory  of 
Mary,  —  Whatever  be  Mary's  fault  in  your  estimate  at  this 
moment,  she  has  one  excellency,  Martha  —  to  the  possession 
of  which,  Martha,  you  are  not  altogether  a  stranger  —  for 
Martha  was  a  Christian  —  "  she  hath  chosen  that  good  part," 
which  no  doubt  Martha  had  also  chosen,  "  which  shall  not  be 
taken  away  from  her." 

Now  what  is  that  good  part  ?  I  think  it  must  be  explained 
as  one  thing  needful ;  only  it  is  that  one  thing  needful 
characterized  as  a  part  selected  in  the  great  drama  of  life, 
and  issuing  in  its  natural  and  blessed  results  in  heaven  here- 
after, and  characterized  by  the  epithet  "  good," —  as  substan- 
tially, essentially  good ;  and  also  distinguished  by  this  blessed 
feature,  that  though  health  shall  be  taken  from  the  frame, 
and  the  bloom  of  youth  shall  fade  upon  the  countenance,  and 
the  brow  become  Avrinkled  and  furrowed  like  the  sea  sand 
from  which  the  tide  of  life  is  ebbing,  yet  this  good  part 
shall  never  be  taken  away  from  you,  nor  you  ever  taken  from 
it.  I  give  unto  her,  Martha,  eternal  life ;  and  none  shall 
pluck  her  out  of  my  hand. 

Now  there  are  some  things  that  are  thought  in  this  world 
good,  but  which  are  not  truly  so ;  and  there  are  other  things 
which  are  really  good,  but  are  not  distinctively  that  good  thing 
which  shall  not  be  taken  away.  Among  some  of  the  things 
which  are  thought  in  this  world  good,  are  riches.  How 
many  think  if  they  could  only  have  a  double  income  that 
they  should  have  a  double  quantity  of  happiness  !  The  poor 
man  thinks  that  a  little  more  money  is  just  the  good  thing 
that  he  wants ;  but  nobody  ever  yet  felt  it  to  be  that  good 
thin^  in  the  possession  of  it  that  he  anticipated  it  would  be 
when  it  was  far  in  the  distant  horizon.     He  that  loves  silver 


LUKE    X.  193 

shall  not  be  satisfied  with  silver ;  he  that  thinks  he  would 
be  happy  if  he  had  only  a  hundred  a  year,  when  he  gets  it 
will  then  think  that  he  can  only  be  happy  when  he  gets  two ; 
and  when  he  has  got  two  he  will  think  more  intensely  than 
ever  that  he  cannot  be  happy  until  he  gets  four.  The  ser- 
vant thinks,  "  If  I  were  to  be  master  or  mistress,  then  I  should 
be  happy."  The  servant  is  made  master,  and  does  he  cease 
now  to  have  desires  ?  He  begins  then  to  say,  "  Oh,  if  I 
could  only  get  more  riches,  then  I  should  be  happy."  He 
becomes  rich ;  is  he  satisfied  now  ?  No ;  his  wdsh  is  now, 
"  If  I  could  only  get  a  title,  then  I  should  be  happy ; "  and 
when  he  gets  that  title,  he  says,  "  If  I  could  only  get  a 
higher,  then  I  should  be  happy."  And  then,  when  raised  — 
as  some  have  been  raised  —  to  the  rank  and  splendor  of  a 
throne,  they  only  echo  in  succeeding  ages  the  sentiment  that 
came  from  the  heart  of  a  monarch  swaying  a  great  sceptre 
of  old,  who  exclaimed  in  the  agony  of  disappointment,^>vex- 
ation,  and  grief,  while  seated  on  a  throne,  "  Oh  that  I  had 
wings  like,  a  dove,  that  I  might  flee  away  and  be  at  rest." 
There  is  no  satisfaction  in  wealth;  it  is  not  a  good  thing 
even,  in  itself,  and  detached  from  that  wiiich  will  sweeten  it. 
Again,  others  think  that  fame,  reputation,  great  genius,  an 
illustrious  name,  are  good  things.  The  poet  spends  the  raid- 
night  oil  upon  it ;  the  painter  toils  from  morning  dawn  till 
sunset  for  it ;  the  painter  of  old  was  asked.  Why  he  labored 
so  assiduously?  he  answered,  that  it  was  for  immortality. 
It  has  been  a  consuming  thirst,  in  some  an  overpowering 
passion.  And  what  is  it  Avorth  ?  What  will  it  matter  to  me 
that  I  may  be  sounded  by  a  thousand,  trumpets  upon  earth 
when  my  dead  dust  is  beneath  the  green  sod,  and  the  soul  is 
listening  to  the  anthems  of  the  cherubim  and  the  seraphim  ? 
Fame  after  one  is  removed  from  the  world  is  about  as  worth- 
less as  loaves  laid  upon  the  stone  under  which  one  lies  dead 
and  quiet.  It  is  something  we  cannot  taste.  Is  it  worth  the 
pursuit  —  the  painful  pursuit  —  it  is  found  to  provoke  ?  We 
17 


194  SCRirTURE    READINGS. 

should  desire  to  be  reincnibered  uhen  we  are  gone,  not  as 
clever  men,  nor  as  talented  men,  but  as  good  men ;  to  leave 
in  the  world  behind  ns  a  trail,  not  of  light,  but  beneficence, 
and  virtue,  and  goodness ;  that  is  an  ambition  that  angels 
desire,  and  that  saints  may  justly  pray  for.  But  reputation, 
or  renown,  or  fame,  is  not  often  a  good  thing. 

By  others  again,  great  alliances  are  thought  good,  and 
desired,  and  coveted,  and  sought  after ;  —  and  even  Chris- 
tians so  far  forget  their  position  as  to  be  the  victims  of 
ambition  of  this  sort.  But  these  alliances  are  not  always 
good.  David  desired  to  marry  the  daughter  of  Saul ; 
thinking  that  by  becoming  a  king's  son  it  would  be  well 
with  him.  Solomon  contracted  royal  alliances,  and  he 
found  them  only  snares,  temptations,  and  trials.  And  we 
may  depend  upon  it  that  if  we  cannot,  by  grace,  be  happy 
in  the  situation  in  which  God's  providence  has  placed  us,  we 
nevQB  shall  be  happier  in  a  higher,  a  wider,  or  a  more  prom- 
inent one.  It  is  not  change  of  place  that  makes  happiness, 
but  change  of  heart.  It  is  not  being  lifted  horizontally  from 
one  part  of  the  earth  to  another  that  makes  us  happier,  but 
it  is  being  drawn  vertically  to  Him  in  whose  presence  alone 
is  fuhiess  of  joy,  at  whose  right  hand  are  pleasures  for  ever- 
more. 

There  are  some  things,  in  the  second  place,  that  are  good, 
but  yet  are  not  that  good  thing.  For  instance,  the  Bible  is 
a  good  thing,  but  yet  the  Bible,  even  with  all  its  precious- 
ness  and  value,  is  not  that  good  thing.  A  man  may  have 
the  Bible,  may  love  the  Bible,  may  admire  the  faultless 
character  of  the  Saviour ;  nay,  like  some  illustrious  critics, 
appreciate  its  nature,  be  charmed  with  its  eloquence,  store 
in  his  memory  its  beautiful  illustrations  ;  but  having  learned 
astronomy,  and  science,  and  history  from  it,  he  may,  never- 
theless, have  failed  in  discovering  Him  who  is  its  central  ob- 
ject, its  glory,  its  harmony,  its  beauty — Christ  and  him 
crucified.    A  man  may  perish  wdth  a  Bible  in  his  hand  j  but 


LUKE    X.  195 

he  never  can  perish  with  that  good  thing  which  is  here  spok- 
en of  in  his  heart. 

The  Church  is  a  very  good  thing  —  using  the  Church  in 
its  broadest  sense,  as  the  company  of  all  who  profess  the  re- 
ligion of  Christ  Jesus.  No  doubt  the  Church  is  a  good 
thing ;  it  is  a  duty  to  belong  to  a  visible  Church,  to  be  bap- 
tized into  it,  to  participate  of  the  Lord's  body  and  blood  sac- 
ramentally  and  significantly  set  forth  in  it  —  this  is  good. 
But  the  Church  has  sometimes  been  placed  in  the  room  of 
the  Saviour,  a  Church  has  sometimes  been  settled  down  in, 
as  if  the  joining  a  Church  were  salvation ;  instead  of  per- 
sonal trust  in  a  living  and  glorified  Lord.  And  whenever 
the  Church  takes  this  place,  a  good  thing  becomes  by  its 
abuse  and  misuse  a  j)ernicious  thing.  It  is  possible  to  have 
a  seat  in  a  Church,  a  place  among  its  people,  a  name  on  the 
rolls  of  its  beneficence,  and  yet  never  to  have  tasted  or  pos- 
sessed that  good  thing  which  shall  never  be  taken  away. 

What  is  that  good -^ thing?  Without  dweUing  upon,  or 
contrasting  things  any  more,  I  think,  in  one  word,  it  is  the 
salvation  of  the  soul  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  our  only 
Sacrifice  for  our  sin,  our  only  righteousness  by  which  we  are 
justified  in  the  sight  of  God.  "Mary,"  Jesus  said,  "hath 
chosen  to  be  her  righteousness,  her  wisdom,  her  sanctifica- 
tion,  her  complete  redemption.  Him  who  is  the  light  to  lighten 
the  Gentiles  and  the  glory  of  his  people  Israel."  Now  tins 
good  thing  never  shall  be  taken  away.  If  I  am  a  member 
of  his  body,  I  cannot  be  separated  from  him ;  if  I  be  a 
living,  fruitful  branch  of  that  vine,  no  hurricane  can  wrench 
me  from  the  parent  stem ;  if  I  be  in  Christ,  I  never  can  fall 
away  from  him  :  "  there  is  no  condemnation. to  them  that  are 
in  Christ  Jesus j"  "I  am  persuaded  that  neither  life,  nor 
death,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be 
able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord." 

But  this  being  in  Christ  is  a  very  different  tiling  from 


196  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

being  baptized  in  his  name,  admitted  into  his  church,  or 
being  acquainted  even  with  his  will.  That  phrase,  "  in 
Christ,"  I  have  often  remarked,  is  so  peculiar  as  in  itself  to 
do  violence  to  ordinary  language  in  order  to  convey  and 
establish  a  truth  that  ordinary  phraseology  does  not  reach. 
"We  never  say  a  servant  is  in  his  master,  a  pupil  in  his 
teacher,  a  son  in  his  father ;  but  you  say,  a  believer  is  in 
Christ.  What  does  this  mean  ?  It  means  that  our  union 
to  him  is  something  closer  and  more  real  than  the  union 
which  subsists  between  teacher  and  pupil,  master  and  ser- 
vant, husband  and  wife,  father  and  son,  mother  and  daugh- 
ter ;  it  inspired  an  apostle  to  say,  "  I  live,"  —  but,  as  if  that 
was  not  all  the  nature  of  that  life,  "  yet  not  I,  but  Christ 
liveth  in  me ;  and  the  life  that  I  live,  I  live  by  the  power  of 
the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  for  me." 

Now  by  being  in  Christ  I  have  that  good  part  which 
shall  never  be  taken  away  ;  I  have  a  righteousness  to  pre- 
sent at  the  judgment-seat,  clothed  in  which  I  am  accepted 
of  God  ;  an  atonement,  washed  in  the  efficacy  of  which  all 
my  sins  are  blotted  out.  I  have  an  interest  in  Christ,  and 
Christ  has  an  interest  in  me.  Because  he  suffered  the  pen- 
alty of  my  sins,  I  shall  never  suffer  it ;  because  he  obeyed 
the  demands  of  the  law,  I  shall  never  be  condemned  for 
failing  to  do  so.  He  has  borne  all  that  I  have  deserved 
as  a  sinner ;  he  has  done  all  that  I  owed  as  a  creature.  In 
the  former  capacity  I  am  forgiven  through  his  blood ;  in  the 
latter  I  am  justified  by  his  righteousness.  In  both  I  have 
that  good  part  which  shall  never  be  taken  away. 

Mary  had  chosen  that  good  part  —  chosen  it ;  then  it  must 
have  been  offered  to  her  ;  and  if  offered  to  her,  Avhy  not  to 
every  woman  in  this  assembly  ?  Mary  had  no  more  right 
than  you  have  ;  she  had  no  more  title  ;  she  had  done  nothing 
to  deserve  it,  she  paid  nothing  to  purchase  it.  She  chose  it 
because  it  was  freely,  fully,  heartily  offered.  Her  choice 
may  by  grace  be  your  choice.     If  you  make  it,  grace  has  all 


LUKE    X.  197 

the  glory  of  your  choice  ;  if  you  do  not,  you  yourselves  have 
all  the  guilt  and  the  condemnation,  and  nobody  else,  of  not 
having  made  that  choice.  It  implies  then  that  this  good 
part  was  offered  to  Mary ;  and  if  to  Mary,  that  it  is  also 
offered  to  us.  And  that  word  implies  an  act  of  will.  It  was 
her  deliberate  and  affectionate  judgment  that  chose  Christ 
to  be  her  salvation.  Now  many  persons  would  answer,  if 
you  were  to  ask  them,  "  Why  are  you  Protestants  ?  "  "  My 
father  was  so. before  me ;  "  and  that  is  the  only  answer  they 
can  give  you.  But  you  see  here  that  religion  was  a  per- 
sonal choice  of  Christ  to  be  her  Lord ;  not  a  maternal  or  a 
paternal  inheritance,  handed  down  from  mother  to  daughter, 
or  from  father  to  son. 

This  expression,  "  chosen,"  implies  freedom  of  will  in  its 
plenary  sense  ;  she  chose  the  Saviour  to  be  hers  —  not  by 
constraint,  but  by  deliberate  choice.  Some  are  Christians 
by  constraint  —  not  by  the  constraint  of  the  Inquisition, 
which  is  not  here,  but  by  the  constraint  of  an  unsanctified 
conscience,  often  worse  in  its  tortures  than  the  Spanish  In- 
quisition ;  and  they  are  religious  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the 
stings  of  conscience.  They  do  not  like  rehgion ;  they  take 
it  as  a  nauseous  medicine.  Prayer  with  them  is  a  penance  ; 
reading  the  Bible  is  a  sort  of  atonement  or  satisfaction  to  a 
craving  conscience,  which  will  not  be  still  unless  something; 
religious  be  offered  to  it  as  an  opiate.  But  Mary  was  not 
driven  to  Christ,  she  was  drawn  to  Christ;  she  was  not  con- 
strained by  fear,  bat  she  chose  Christ  as  her  Lord. 

In  the  next  place,  her  choice  was  not  mere  impulse. 
There  are  persons  of  that  impulsive  temperament  that  they 
will  to-day  be  all  that  you  could  wish,  and  to-morrow  their 
religion  is  gone  like  the  morning  cloud  or  the  early  dew,  and 
left  scarcely  a  memorial  of  its  presence  behind, 
17* 


CHAPTER    XL 


pkater  —  form  —  simplicity  —  paternal  —  social  —  order  — 
perseverance  —  prayer  is  privilege  rather  than  duty  — 
Christ's  jiiraoles  — conflict  —  recurrence  to  evil  is  hard- 
ening—  MARY  —  THIS  GENERATION,  OR  THE  JEWISH  RACE  — 
BAPTISM  —  WOES. 

The  chapter  begins  with  a  beautiful  form  of  prayer, 
which  is  to  be  the  key-note  of  all  our  petitions,  the  model 
after  which  all  our  supplications  at  the  throne  of  grace  are 
to  be  shaped  and  formed  ;  and,  perhaps,  less  the  model  than 
the  mere  order  of  petition,  and  more  the  spirit  in  which  we 
should  approach  God,  and  pray  to  him  as  our  Father. , 

The  disciples  asked  Jesus  to  teach  them  to  pray ;  and  he 
answered.  When  ye  pray,  say  thus.  Some  have  argued  that 
it  is  absolutely  obhgatory  to  use  this  prayer  on  every  occa- 
sion that  we  pray  ;  as  if  it,  in  preference  to  any  other  prayer 
in  use,  or  in  the  Old  or  New  Testament  Scriptures,  had  a 
peculiar  and  singular  virtue  or  merit.  But  such  an  idea 
would  be  a  misapprehension  of  prayer.  There  is  no  virtue 
in  words,  but  in  Him  only  in  whose  name  they  are  pre- 
sented. The  beauty  of  this  prayer  is  its  simphcity,  its  com- 
prehensiveness, its  paternal  aspect,  and  the  order  in  which 
we  are  to  pray  —  seeking  first  that  which  relates  to  the  glory 
of  our  Father,  next  what  contributes  to  the  well-being  of 
ourselves.  That  it  is  not  absolutely  obligatory  in  its  exist- 
ing shape  is  plain  from  this  fact  —  that  in  the  Gospel  ac- 

(198) 


LUKE   XI.  199 

cording  to  St.  Matthew  the  form  which  he  gave  on  one  oc- 
casion differs  in  several  words  from  the  form  which  he  gives 
on  this  occasion.  You  will  notice  that  in  the  Gospel  of  St. 
Matthew  it  is,  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread  ;  "  it  is  here 
substantially,  but  not  verhatim  the  same,  "  Give  us  day  by 
day  our  daily  bread."  In  the  Gospel  accordmg  to  St.  Mat- 
thew it  is,  "  Forgive  us  our  trespasses  as  we  forgive  them  that 
trespass  against  us ; "  in  this  instance  it  is,  "  Forgive  us  our 
sins  "  —  that  is,  our  sins  against  God  —  "  as  we  forgive  every 
one  that  is  indebted  "  —  that  is,  relative  obligations  —  "  to 
us."  And  then  the  doxology  in  Matthew  at  the  close  is  here 
omitted.  Now  it  is  singular  that  in  the  prayer  given  in  St. 
Matthew,  Jesus  says,  "  After  this  manner  pray ; "  but  in  this 
form  he  says,  "  "When  ye  pray  say'*  Now  those  who  most 
rigidly  hold  it  as  an  indispensable  form,  use  the  form  which 
is  not  enjoined  absolutely,  before  which  he  says,  "  After  this 
manner  pray ; "  and  they  do  not  use  the  form  in  which  there 
seems  something  like  the  obligation  of  using  the  form,  for  he 
says,  "  When  ye  pray,  say,  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven." 
I  do  not  quote  these  things  as  if  the  prayer  were  not  suit- 
able—  far  from  it;  I  think  it  is  the  most  beautiful,  the 
most  simple,  the  most  evangelical,  the  most  comprehensive 
of  all  the  petitions  in  the  Bible ;  and  the  oftener  I  use  it,  the 
more  expressive  and  approj)riate  it  seems  to  me. 

In  the  second  place,  I  wish  to  notice  that  all  the  instances 
of  prayer  used  by  our  blessed  Lord  are  generally  short  and 
extremely  simple.  It  is  not  the  quantity  of  words  which 
we  employ,  but  the  depth  and  fervor  with  which  we  pray  in 
Christ's  name,  that  makes  true  prayer.  It  is  possible  to  re- 
peat, like  the  poor  Romanist,  a  thousand  "  Pater  Nosters," 
and  yet  not  to  pray  one  "  Our  Father."  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  possible,  and  I  hope  frequent,  for  many  a  Christian  to 
breathe  from  the  heart  this  simple  "  Our  Father,"  and  in  its 
once  utterance  to  ask  truly  and  to  obtain  eifectually  all  it  so 
beautifully  and  so  justly  comprehends. 


200  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Let  me  notice,  in  \  lie  next  place,  tliat  when  we  pray  — 
I  have  often  felt  this,  and  I  do  think  it  is  so  salutary  to 
remind  you  —  in  this  Christian  dispensation,  we  are  not  to 
go  to  God  as  if  we  were  miserable,  condemned  criminals, 
standing  in  the  dock,  deprecating  his  wrath,  and  imploring 
a  fierce  tyrant  not  to  destroy  us  ;  but  we  are  to  go  to  him 
as  to  a  loving  father.  And  I  have  sometimes  thought  that 
amid  all  the  excellences  and  beauties  of  vai'ious  liturgies 
that  are  used,  there  is  often  too  much  of  the  deprecatory  of 
God's  wrath,  and  too  little  of  the  paternal  and  filial  feeling 
that  pervades  this  beautiful  prayer.  You  wull  notice  that 
when  the  Christian  prays,  he  goes  to  God  as  a  son  goes  to 
a  father ;  and  he  begins  his  prayer  with  recognizing  God's 
paternal  relationship,  and  says,  not  "  Our  Judge,"  not  "  Our 
God,"  but,  "Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven."  And  do 
not  forget,  when  you  use  this  prayer,  especially  when  you 
use  it  in  private,  to  precede  each  petition  with  "  Our  Father :" 
"  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven,"  — "  Our  Father,  hal- 
lowed be  thy  name,"  —  the  name  of  a  Father;  —  "Our 
Father,  thy  kingdom  "  —  our  Father's  kingdom  —  "  come ; " 
— "Our  Father,  thy  wdll"  —  a  Father's  will  —  "be  done  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  heaven ; "  —  "  Our  Father,  give  us  "  —  thy 
children  —  "  daily  bread ; "  —  "  Our  Father,  forgive  the  sins 
of  thy  children,  and  teach  thy  children  to  forgive  all  their 
brothers  and  sisters  of  mankind;"  —  "  Our  Father,  deliver 
us  from  all  evil,"  and,  "  Our  Father,  lead  us  into  no 
temptation."  It  is  the  paternal  chord  vibrating  through 
every  petition  ;  it  is  the  supplication  of  a  son  running  through 
the  whole  prayer  at  the  throne  of  grace.  And  you  will 
notice,  too,  how  little  of  selfishness  is  in  it.  It  is  not  "il^ 
Father,"  —  that  would  be  selfish,  or  if  not  selfish,  it  would 
be  self-love,  which  is  excluded ;  but  it  is  "  Our  Father,"  and 
therefore  when  we  pray,  it  is  in  common  with  all  believers. 

It  begins,  "  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven,"  —  our  true 
home,  after  which  we  are  seeking ;  whe^e  a  father's  house 


LUKE    XI.  201 

is,  there  the  cliildren's  home  is.  Ancl'  when  we  say,  "  Our 
Father  which  art  in  heaven,"  we  confess  that  our  home  is 
not  the  frail  and  perishable  tent  that  must  be  struck  below ; 
but  the  everlasting  mansions  that  are  prepared  above,  where 
our  Father  and  his  family  are. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  first  half  of  the  prayer  — 
the  first  three  petitions,  or  rather  the  first  four  petitions,  all 
relate  to  God ;  the  last  petitions  all  relate  to  man.  The 
first  half  of  the  prayer  is  prayer  that  God's  name  may  be 
hallowed,  our  Father's  will  be  done,  our  Father's  kingdom 
come ;  and  then  the  second  half  of  it  is,  "  Give  us  daily 
bread,  and  forgive  us  our  sins."  How  interesting  is  that ! 
The  Christian  prays  first  that  God's  name  may  be  glorified ; 
next,  that  his  own  wants  may  be  satisfied ;  and  he  prays 
that  his  wants  may  be  satisfied  only  through  the  glorifying 
of  God's  holy  name.  In  other  words,  in  his  prayer  a 
Christian,  just  as  in  his  practice,  seeks  first  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  then  he  expects  that  all 
other  things  will  be  added  unto  him.  It  may  also  be  ob- 
served, that  when  a  Christian  has  done  glorifying  God,  or 
rather,  has  thus  glorified  God,  it  is  not  beneath  him  to  ask 
daily  bread.  I  believe  that  it  is  our  privilege.  I  have 
often  repeated  it  to  you,  and  it  is  worth  repetition,  because 
it  is  so  true  —  it  is  our  privilege  and  our  duty  to  ask  of  God 
the  least  crumb  that  lies  on  the  table  of  our  temporal  enjoy- 
ment, as  well  as  the  loftiest  blessing  that  God  gives  from 
beside  the  throne.  If  you  are  poor,  seek  that  God  will 
give  you  what  is  good  for  you ;  if  you  are  sick  and  ill,  pray 
for  restoration  to  health ;  if  you  are  dying,  pray  for  life ;  if 
you  are  in  danger,  pray  for  safety ;  if  you  have  a  relative 
ill,  pray  for  that  relative.  And  pray  frequently  ;  and  if  any 
one  should  say.  How  do  you  know  it  is  good  that  the  rela- 
tive should  be  restored  ?  —  how  do  you  know  it  is  good  that 
you  should  have  health,  or  obtain  money,  or  be  delivered 
from  danger  ?  I  answer,  That  is  no  business  of  yours  ;  it  is 


202  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

God  that  will  and  does  judge  of  that:  it  is  your  privilege 
just  to  tell  him  as  a  child  tells  liis  parent  what  you  feel  to 
be  needful,  and  to  pray  for,  what  you  think  in  all  honesty, 
to  be  good  for  you,  and  leave  it  with  God,  whose  wisdom 
never  errs,  whose  love  never  fails,  to  give  or  to  withhold,  as 
he  may  think  most  expedient  for  you.  A  Christian  is  to 
pray  for  every  thing  he  thinks  he  wants ;  it  is  God's  prerog- 
ative, not  ours,  to  discriminate  wdiat  is  good  for  us,  and 
what  is  not ;  and  we  may,  therefore,  ask  for  daily  bread. 
But,  you  say,  how  can  a  rich  man  use  this  prayer  ?  I  can 
well  understand  a  poor  man,  striving  to  obtain  a  subsistence, 
asking  daily  bread ;  but  how^,  you  say,  can  a  rich  man,  who 
never  knows  wdiat  it  is  to  w^ant  ?  But,  my  dear  friends, 
there  are  two  things  requisite  to  get  health,  —  first,  the 
bread  that  I  am  to  eat ;  secondly,  the  powers  in  my  system 
that  shall  make  that  bread  nourishment  and  strength  to  me. 
Now,  it  happens  that  the  poor  man  often  has  plenty  of  appe- 
tite, but  no  bread ;  the  rich  man  is  often  much  w^orse,  for 
he  has  plenty  of  food,  but  no  appetite,  and  health  to  eat  it. 
But  we  need  both  ;  and  therefore,  when  we  pray  to  God  to 
give  us  daily  bread,  we  ask  him  not  only  to  give  us  bread  — 
which  in  itself  has  no  more  nutriment  that  a  stone  —  but 
we  also  ask  him  to  give  us  health  and  appetite  which  may 
help  us  to  extract  from  that  bread  the  nutriment  that  is 
requisite  to  keep  the  fountain  of  life  in  strong  and  vigorous 
action. 

We  ask  also  forgiveness  of  sin  and  deliverance  from  temp- 
tation, and  all  blessings  that  w^e  need  for  this  life  and  that 
which  is  to  come. 

Then  Jesus  argues  with  them,  and  he  says,  "  Which  of 
you  shall  have  a  friend,  and  shall  go  unto  him  at  midnight, 
and  say  unto  him.  Friend,  lend  me  three  loaves,"  —  that 
friend  may  answer,  in  a  very  surly  manner,  —  "  Trouble  me 
not :  the  door  is  now  shut,  and  my  children  are  in  hcd^^  — 
not  "  with  me,"  as  here  rendered,  in  the  same  bed,  but,  my 


LUKE    XT.  203 

children  are  in  bed,  and  I  am  in  bed  also,* —  "  I  cannot  rise 
and  give  thee."  AVell,  but  the  person  who  aj^plies  is  very 
hungry,  and  he  persists  in  knocking  and  calling,  until  his 
neighbor  gets  up  and  gives  him  bread ;  it  is  in  our  transla- 
tion, "  because  of  his  importunity ; "  it  might  have  been 
translated  better,  because  of  his  impudence  —  because  of 
his  shamelessness,  and  determination  not  to  go  away  until 
he  gets  what  he  wants.  Now  our  Lord's  argument  is  what 
is  called  by  logicians  a  fortiori.  He  says,  if  a  human  being 
will  do  this,  not  because  of  the  relationship  of  him  who  asks, 
but  unwillingly,  and  because  of  his  importunity,  and  persis- 
tency, and  determination,  then,  a  fortiori,  how  much  more 
will  He  who  is  willing,  give  all  the  blessings  that  you  ask ; 
aud  still  more,  surely,  will  he  give  to  persistent  praying  that 
which  you  persistently  and  perseveringly  ask  for.  "  There- 
fore I  say  unto  you,  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you ;  seek, 
and  ye  shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you." 
Now  is  this  true  ?  We  all  know  it ;  and  yet  how  little  im- 
pression does  it  make  upon  you.  If  I  were  to  say  to  you, 
"  Go  to  the  Bank  of  England  at  twelve  o'clock  to-morrow, 
and  ask  as  much  money  as  you  like,  and  you  will  get  it," 
one  thrill  of  delight  Avould  rush  through  every  bosom,  and 
to-morrow  Threadneedle  Street  would  be  crowded  with  ear- 
nest and  anxious  applicants.  I  ask,  how  is  it  to  be  explained 
that  when  the  Sovereign  of  the  skies  says  from  heaven, 
"  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be 
opened  unto  you,"  —  that  we  feel  it  so  little  a  privilege,  that 
we  do  not  trouble  ourselves  either  about  what  he  says,  or 
about  what  he  enjoins  ?  My  dear  friends,  let  it  not  be  so 
said  of  us.  Let  us  ask  ;  it  is  not  a  duty  to  pray  —  it  is  a 
privilege.  The  question  is  not,  Ought  I  to  pray  ?  but  oh, 
surely  it  ought  to  be.  May  I  pray  ?  —  not  surely,  "  Is  it  a 
duty  to  pray?"  but  surely,  surely,  "Is  it  my  privilege  to 
pray  ?  "  And  if  it  be  my  privilege,  and  not- my  duty,  I  will 
earnestly  ask  that  I  may  find,  and  I  will  knock  that  to  me  it 


204  SCIIIPTUIIE    READINGS. 

may  be  opened.  Never  let  the  essentially  Popish  element 
enter  into  your  thoughts  about  prayer  —  that.it  is  a  mere 
duty.  The  man  that  prays  because  it  is  a  duty,  has  never 
yet  learned  to  pray.  Asking  bread  of  a  man  that  has  it,  is 
not  your  duty  —  you  cannot  help  it,  it  is  your  instinct.  And 
seeking  a  blessing  from  God  is  not  a  duty  —  it  is  our  privi- 
lege, and  we  cannot  help  it.  The  poor  Roman  Catholic 
prays  because  it  is  his  duty,  because  it  is  a  punishment  or  a 
penance.  He  thinks  he  makes  an  atonement  for  his  sins ; 
and  the  more  Pater  Nosters  and  Ave  Marias  he  repeats,  the 
more  he  thinks  he  prevails  with  God.  It  does  not  matter  if 
he  does  not  understand  what  he  says ;  he  thinks  that  there 
is  a  virtue  in  every  syllable,  expiation  in  every  clause,  and 
that  God  looks  less  at  the  feeling  of  the  petitioner,  and  more 
at  the  multitude  of  words  which  the  petitioner  employs. 

In  the  next  place,  as  it  is  not  a  mere  duty  to  pray,  but  a 
privilege  also,  let  me  remind  you,  never  to  teach  your  chil- 
dren so  much  that  it  is  a  duty  to  pray,  but  try  and  teach  them 
that  it  is  their  privilege  to  pray.  And  never  do  what  some 
very  foolish  parents  have  done  —  not  many,  I  hope  —  enjoin 
upon  your  children  to  learn  a  praj^er  as  a  punishment.  I 
have  seen  it  in  Scotland,  where  the  parent  has  said  to  the 
child  —  and  a  mother,  whose  instinct  is  generally  most  in- 
fallible, as  her  power  is  greatest  —  "You  have  misconducted 
yourself  at  church ;  as  a  punishment,  go  and  learn  a  part  of 
a  Paraphrase,  or  commit  tb  memory  a  hymn."  And  in 
England,  too,  I  have  heard,  it  is  not  uncommon  to  say,  "You 
were  noisy  in  church,  therefore  go  and  learn  the  collect  for 
the  day."  Now  what  is  the  plain  nature  of  that?  Just 
Popery  in  homceopathic  doses ;  but  not  the  less  injurious 
because  it  is  so ;  and  if  you  teach  your  children  such  Popish 
practices  in  the  nursery,  you  must  not  t)e  surprised  when 
they  grow  up  and  adopt  them  in  manhood ;  and  that  Pusey- 
ism  and  Po])ery  become  so  predominant  and  so  general  as 
they  are.     Never  make  your  child  either  learn  a  hymn,  a 


LUKE   XI.  205 

collect,  or  a  prayer  as  a  punishment  —  never  teach  your 
child,  in  other  words,  the  Popish  sacrament  of  penance; 
but  on  the  contrary,  if  your  child  has  done  wrong,  far  better 
say,  "  I  will  not  take  you  to  church  on  the  Sabbath  evening, 
or  on  the  Friday  evening,"  or  whatever  the  weekday  ser- 
vice may  be ;  or,  "  I  will  not  allow  you  to  join  at  family 
worship  to-day."  Always  teach  your  children  that  not  to 
get  access  to  the  Bible  is  a  punishment ;  that  to  read  the 
Bible  is  a  privilege ;  always  try  to  associate  with  religion 
all  that  is  bright,  and  blessed,  and  beautiful,  and  happy; 
and  associate  with  the  loss  of  it  all  that  is  painful,  punitive, 
and  sad ;  and  by  instilling  this  in  the  nursery  you  do  what 
parents  tlunk  they  do  when  they  teach  their  children,  but 
which  they  only  half  do  when  they  teach  them  —  you  train 
your  children ;  and  often  where  there  is  the  least  teaching 
there  is  the  most  effective  training ;  and  often  where  there 
is  the  most  schooling  there  is  the  greatest  absence  of  what 
is  the  most  essential  element  —  true,  and  Christian,  and 
personal  training.  Men  are  made  more  by  what  they  see 
than  by  what  they  are  taught.  For  one  truth  that  clings  to 
the  memory,  and  moulds  the  character  in  after  years,  ten 
impressions  have  entered  by  the  eye  that  shape  that  char- 
acter, and  make  men,  long  afterwards,  what  they  become  in 
the  providence  of  God. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  true  aspect  of  prayer  is  not,  Ought 
I  to  pray  ?  but.  May  I  pray  ? 

After  this  our  blessed  Lord  argues  —  and  how  conde- 
scending in  him  so  to  argue !  —  from  the  weak  to  the  strong. 
If  your  own  son  ask  of  you  a  piece  of  bread,  you  will  not 
surely  give  him  that  which  is  not  bread,  but  which  will  do 
him  no  harm,  because  he  will  not  eat  it  —  a  stone.  If  your 
son  ask  you  for  food,  you  would  not  give  him  that  which 
would  sting  him  —  a  serpent.  Well,  then,  if  when  your 
son  asks  what  is  needful,  you  do  not  give  him  that  which  is 
worthless ;  and  if  when  he  asks  that  which   will  do  him 

18 


206  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

good,  you  do  not  give  him  that  which  will  do  him  harm, 
argue  from  the  instincts  in  a  human  father's  bosom,  to  the 
beneficence  in  a  divine  Father's  heart ;  and  if  you,  earthly 
fathers,  being  im})erfect,  passionate,  apt  to  lose  your  tem- 
pers, opposed  to  God  —  if  ye,  earthly  fathers,  being  evil, 
know  quite  well,  notwithstanding  all  this,  how  to  give  good 
gifts  to  your  children,  now  come,  calculate  if  you  can,  how 
much  more  will  your  Father  —  our  Father  w^hicli  is  in 
heaven,  always  the  same  Father  —  who  is  in  heaven,  give 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him  ?  What  a  justification 
of  prayer  is  here !  what  an  encouragement  to  pray !  how 
criminal  is  the  man  who  does  not  pray !  hoAV  certain  of 
heaven  and  eternal  glory  is  that  man  who  does  truly  pray! 

Wlien  our  Lord  bids  his  disciples  pray,  he  bids  them  say, 
"  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven."  In  the  original  it  is 
h  ovpavolg,  ^^'m  the  heavens;"  but  when  he  says,  "How 
much  more  will  your  heavenly  Father,"  or,  your  Father,  it 
is  "  from  heaven,"  —  it  is  air'  ovpavibv. 

When  w^e  pray,  it  is,  "  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven," 
—  our  home  ;  w^hen  he  gives,  it  is  "  our  Father  from  heav- 
en "  —  the  place  from  which  the  blessing  comes. 

After  he  had  thus  taught  them  to  pray,  and  showed  them 
the  efficacy  of  prayer,  we  read  that  he  cast  out  an  evil 
spirit,  and  the  people  wondered  at  the  miracle  which  had 
been  done.  Now  notice,  the  miracles  of  our  Lord  were 
never  questioned  as  feats  that  were  truly  supernatural. 
They  did  not  say,  "  This  feat  can  be  done  by  us  ; "  but  they 
said,  "  It  is  clearly  supernatural ;  but  we  allege  it  is  done 
by  Satanic  power,  Avhich  is  supernatural  from  beneath,  not 
by  divine  power,  which  is  supernatural  from  above."  But 
the  force  of  this  testimony  is  very  remarkable ;  because  it 
recognizes  the  supernatural  nature  of  the  deed,  whilst  it 
tries  to  explain  it  on  a  principle  which  our  blessed  Lord 
showed  to  be  altogether  inapplicable  and  impossible  ;  for  he 
says,  "  Every  kingdom  divided  against  itself  is  brought  to 


LUKE  XI.  207 

desolation ;  and  a  house  divided  against  a  house  falleth. 
If  Satan  also  be  divided  against  himself,  how  shall  his 
kingdom  stand  ? "  If  he  help  me  to  punisli  his  own  sub- 
jects, then  how  is  it  possible  that  his  kingdom  can  liold 
together?  It  must  come  to  an  end  ;  it  would  be  suicide  for 
Satan  to  do  so.  The  thing  refutes  itself;  and  therefore  this 
deed,  which  you  admit  not  to  be  human,  cannot  be  satanic  — 
it  must,  therefore,  be  heavenly  and  divine.  He  then  states 
the  reason  for  this  ;  he  says  to  them,  "  When  a  strong  man 
armed  "  —  that  is,  Satan  —  "  keepeth  his  palace,  his  goods 
are  in  peace."  A  man  has  a  peace,  which  is  properly  a 
quiet,  as  long  as  he  is  the  subject  of  Satan,  and  the  child  of 
this  world ;  and  the  very  first  proof  that  a  work  of  trans- 
forming grace  has  commenced  in  the  human  heart  is,  that 
that  heart  becomes  henceforth,  for  a  season  at  least,  the  re- 
gion of  disquiet,  of  conflict,  and  of  anxious  thought.  The 
"  peace,  peace,"  that  is  no  peace,  is  jDerilous ;  but  the  peace 
that  passeth  understanding  is  more  than  a  compensation  for 
the  quiet  which  it  breaks.  Satan  can  give  quiet;  the 
amusements  of  the  world  may  give  you  a  calm ;  but  the 
Holy  Spirit  alone  can  give  that  peace  which  will  bear  the 
?hock  of  time,  survive  the  ordeal  of  the  judgment  morn, 
and  spread  its  broad  bright  stream  into  a  broader  and  a 
brighter  in  that  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God. 

He  speaks  of  one  out  of  whom  an  evil  spirit  had  been 
cast ;  and  then  that  man,  not  taking  care,  but  inviting  the 
return  of  that  spirit,  the  consequence  is,  that  he  who  is 
invited  back  again  goes  not  alone,  but  with  seven  others 
worse  than  himself.  A  man  that  embraces  an  evil  habit,  — 
let  it  be  drunkenness,  for  instance,  —  and  abstains  for  a 
season  from  the  gratification  of  that  evil  and  pernicious 
passion,  and  relapses  into  the  passion  again,  is  a  painfid  but 
a  true  illustration  of  the  idea  in  this  passage, —  that  his  last 
state  is  worse  than  the  first,  and  his  restoration  more  hope- 
less than  it  ever  was  before. 


208  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

"A  certain  woman  of  the  company  lifted  up  her  voice, 
and  said  unto  him,  Blessed  is  the  womb  that  bare  thee,"  — 
that  is,  the  Virgin  Mary.  Jesus,  as  he  does  wherever  Mary 
is  alluded  to,  conveyed  clearly  and  unequivocally  a  rebuke 
to  the  rising  tendency  to  give  her  worship,  in  the  declaration 
that  they  that  hear  the  word  of  God  and  keep  it  —  that  is, 
the  humblest  Christian  —  is  more  blessed  than  she.  In  the 
Church  of  Rome,  they  do  what  is  called  canonize  saints. 
Now  to  canonize  partly  means  to  bless ;  which  is  a  minor 
form,  called  beatification,  or  pronouncing  blessing.  I  will 
take  the  ecclesiastical  phraseology  of  that  church,  and  the 
text  will  read  exactly  thus  :  "And  a  certain  woman  said. 
She  is  worthy  to  be  canonized  that  bare  thee.  But  Jesus 
said.  Yea,  rather,  more  worthy  to  be  canonized  are  they 
that  hear  the  word  of  God,  and  keep  it ; "  that  is  to  say, 
that  person  who  is  a  true  Christian  is,  in  being  such,  raised 
to  a  loftier  level,  invested  with  nobler  privileges  than  Mary 
was,  in  being  the  mother  according  to  the  flesh  of  the  Lord 
of  glory.  In  the  language  of  a  Christian,  By  giving  her- 
self to  Jesus,  Mary  was  more  blessed,  than  by  giving  Jesus 
to  be  born  into  the  world,  our  only  Saviour.  And  you  will 
notice  that  in  almost  every  passage  where  there  is  an  allu- 
sion to  Mary,  this  lesson  is  always  taught  us.  At  the  mar- 
riage feast  in  Cana  of  Galilee,  Mary  said,  "  They  have  no 
wine ;  "  Jesus  answers,  rebuking  her,  "  Woman,  what  is  that 
to  thee?"  In  another  instance,  one  said  to  him,  "Thy 
mother  and  thy  brethren  stand  without ; "  and  Jesus  replied, 
"  Who  is  my  mother,  and  who  are  my  brethren  ?  Those 
that  hear  the  word  of  God  and  keep  it." 

He  then  mentions  some  of  the  signs  that  should  be  given 
to  this  generation.  Now  I  wish  you  to  notice  here  an  in- 
stance of  the  word  "  generation  "  being  used  in  the  sense  of 
a  race.  You  remember  in  that  jDa^sage  where  he  says, 
"  This  generation  shall  not  pass  away  till  all  these  things  be 
fulfilled ;  "  many  persons  have  said  that  that  denotes  that  it 


LUKE  XI.  209 

• 

was  the  existing  thirty  years  generation  of  the  Jews  that 
should  not  see  death  till  the  de^struction  of  Jerusalem ;  and 
they  say  that  the  word  "  generation  "  is  never  used  in  the 
sense  of  a  people  or  a  race.  But  in  this  chapter  the  word 
is  plainly  used  in  this  sense.  He  says,  the  blood  of  all  the 
prophets  which  was  shed  from  the  foundation  of  the  world 
shall  be  required  of  this  generation.  "  Verily  I  say  unto 
you,  it  shall  be  required  of  this  generation,"  that  is  plainly, 
the  Jewish  race.  Now  the  sign  of  the  prophet  Jonah  was 
this.  Jonah  preached  forty  days  to  Nineveh  to  repent,  and 
it  did  repent.  Jonah  said,  "  in  forty  days  shall  Nineveh  be 
overthrown."  From  the  time  when  Jesus  uttered  these 
words  till  the  time  that  Jerusalem  was  overthrown,  about 
forty  years  (using  a  day  for  a  year)  elapsed ;  and  perhaps 
it  was  relative  to  the  time  that  should  precede  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem  as  compared  with  the  time  prophesied  by  Jonah 
that  should  precede  the  overthrow  of  Nineveh,  that  Jesus 
identified  the  sign  of  Jonah  and  the  sign  that  was  now  being 
given. 

We  then  read,  that  "  a  certain  Pharisee  besought  him  to 
dine  with  him ;  and  he  went  in,  and  sat  down  to  meat.  And 
when  the  Pharisee  saw  it,  he  marvelled  that  he  had  not 
first  washed  before  dinner."  In  this  case  we  would  have 
our  Baptist  brethren  notice  an  instance,  irresistible,  of  the 
word  fSuTTTCj,  or  ISaizTi^u,  the  first  being  the  word  from  which 
the  last  is  derived,  being  used  not  in  the  sense  of  immers- 
ing, but  rather  sprinkling  or  wetting  a  part  of  the  body, 
and  not  the  whole.  The  literal  translation  of  this  passage 
is,  "  When  the  Pharisee  saw  it,  he  marvelled  that  he  was 
not  first  baptized  before  dinner."  Well,  now,  how  did  a  Phar- 
isee baptize  before  dinner  ?  lie  dipped  his  fingers  simply  in 
water ;  and  therefore,  to  put  a  portion  of  the  body  in  con- 
tact with  water  is  truly  baptism.  I  do  not  deny  that 
baptism  by  immersion  is  true  ;  I  only  ask  those  that  hold 
that  opinion  to  confess  that  baptism  by  sprinkling  is  quite 
18*- 


210  SCRIPTUKE    HEADINGS. 

as  true.  But,  you  say,  what  warrant  is  there  for  it?  I 
answer,  here  is  the  Greek  word  translated  "  baptism,"  ac- 
tually employed,  denoting  only  a  part  of  the  body  coming 
into  contact  with  water,  and  therefore  not  implying  that 
the  whole  body  must  be  immersed  in  order  to  correspond  to 
the  meaning  of  the  word  that  is  here  employed.  Well  now, 
our  Lord  instantly  said  to  him,  that  the  Pharisees  were  more 
anxious  to  keep  the  outside  of  the  platter  clean  than  the 
inside.  And  then  he  said,  "  But  rather  give  alms  of  such 
things  as  ye  have;  and  behold,  all  things  are  clean  unto 
you ; "  it  is  as  if  he  said,  You  are  very  anxious  to  observe 
all  the  external  forms  and  ceremonies  of  religion,  but  you 
have  utterly  neglected  to  act  up  to  it  in  deed  and  in  truth ; 
instead  of  giving  alms,  you  have  plundered  widows'  houses. 
Begin  to  exercise  the  obligations  of  justice,  mercy,  and  love, 
which  ought  to  be  the  inner  contents  of  the  human  vessel ; 
and  by  doing  so  you  will  consecrate  the  exterior  part,  and 
all  things  will  be  clean ;  and  so  purity  wiU  be  really  de- 
veloped in  the  case  of  him  who  is  morally  and  spiritually 
right  in  the  sight  of  God.  He  then  pronounces  a  woe  upon 
the  Pharisees  for  being  very  particular  about  tithe,  mint, 
and  rue,  but  for  being  utterly  careless  about  the  weightier 
matters  of  the  Law.  He  pronounces  the  same  woe  upon 
the  lawyers  —  the  ecclesiastical  lawyers  of  the  day  —  and 
wdien  they  asked  whether  he  alluded  to  them,  he  at  once 
frankly  said  that  he  did  so ;  he  warned  them  that  they  iden- 
tified themselves  with  their  fathers  by  sanctioning  and  ac- 
cepting their  deeds,  walking  in  their  footsteps,  and  imitating 
their  example;  and  then  he  pronounces  that  very  awful 
judgment,  that  all  the  vengeance,  or  righteous  retribution 
provoked  by  the  Jewish  race  from  the  days  of  Abel  down 
to  the  last  martyr  that  suffered  between  the  altar  and  the 
temple,  should  fall  upon  that  generation.  "VVe  have  this 
prophecy  fulfilled  before  our  eyes.  The  Jews  are  wander- 
ing and  weary  footed  outcasts,  the  obvious  tokens  of  some 


LUKE    XI.  211 

dread  retribution  that  has  overtaken  them;  but  by  their 
very  perpetuity  the  clear  prophecy  of  a  coming  restoration, 
when  Israel  and  Judah  shall  dwell  in  safety,  and  the  root 
and  the  offspring  of  David  their  king  shall  be  King  and  Lord 
in  the  midst  of  them.  The  Jews  are  cast  off  for  a  season, 
not  cut  off  for  ever.  They  will  one  day  look  on  Him  they 
pierced.  The  signs  of  their  restoration  and  conversion 
multiply  on  all  sides.  Their  conversion  will  produce  a  deep 
impression  on  the  Gentiles,  even  life  from  the  dead. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

CAUTION  —  nrpocRiST — -wokds  iiav^  endless  EcnoES  —  soul's 

SEPARATE  EXISTENCE SPECIAL  PROVIDENCE SIN  AGAINST  TUB 

HOLT    SPIRIT  —  THE    CLERGY    AND    POLITICS — COVETOUSNESS 

CHARACTER  —  THE  RICH  FOOL  —  GOD  AVILL  PROVIDE  —  HEART  AND 
TREASURE  —  COMING  OF  CHRIST — DEGREES  OF  SUFFERING  AND 
JOY  —  SIGNS  OF  THE  TI3IES. 

This  long  and  beautiful  lesson  is  full  of  great,  personal, 
spiritual,  and  lasting  instruction.  It  begins  first  of  all  with 
a  caution  addressed  to  the  disciples,  and  to  all  that  constituted 
his  immediate  auditory,  to  beware  of  that  which  was  the 
great  characteristic  of  the  Pharisees;  namely,  hypocrisy. 
Hypocrisy  means,  "  wearing  a  mask ; "  a  hypocrite  means  a 
person  under  a  mask.  In  ancient  times  the  play  actors  put 
on  a  mask  while  they  acted  their  parts ;  and  "  hypocrite," 
therefore,  means  a  person  that  wears  a  mask  —  something 
that  makes  him  look  to  others  different  from  what  he  is  and 
looks  to  himself,  and  what  he  knows  himself  really  to  be. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  sin  which  our  Lord  seems 
to  have  branded  with  his  severest  denunciations,  was  the  sin 
of  hypocrisy.  He  selected  it  for  special  rebuke ;  he  spoke 
of  it  as  the  greatest  offence ;  and  the  Pharisees,  and  scribes, 
and  ecclesiastical  rulers  of  the  day,  must  have  felt  his  searching 
hand  in  their  consciences,  while  he  so"  often,  and  so  minutely, 
and  so  severely  rebuked  it.  He  shows  to  them  the  ab- 
surdity of  hypocrisy,  he  says,  "  There  is  notliing  hid  that 
shall  not.be  revealed,"  the  mask  must  be  broken,  the  features 

(212) 


LUKE    XII.  213 

that  are  under  it  must  one  day  be  disclosed.  The  mask  may 
last  through  the  world,  but  you  must  leave  it  behind  you  at 
the  grave ;  and  just  as  you  are,  the  Searcher  of  hearts  sees 
you,  and  will  reveal  you  at  the  judgment-day.  That  which 
is  spoken  in  darkness,  you  think  that  the  darkness  will  bury 
for  ever ;  but  the  darkness  will  give  up  its  contents  just  as 
truly  as  the  light ;  and  that  which  you  have  spoken  in  the 
ear  in  closets  shall  be  proclaimed  upon  the  housetops.  This 
reminds  me  of  a  thought  I  tried  to  express  to  you  before,  — 
and  it  is  a  very  solemn  one,  —  that  a  word  that  has  once 
passed  from  my  lips,  whether  good,  bad,  or  indifferent,  will 
not  cease  to  be  repeated  in  reverberations  and  echoes  till  the 
end  of  this  dispensation  come.  You  know  well  that  philos- 
ophers have  proved,  what  can  be  mathematically  demon- 
strated —  the  infinite  divisibility  of  man ;  that  is,  if  I  divide 
an  inch  into  two,  I  can  still  divide  each  half  inch  into  two,^ 
and  each  new  half  into  two,  and  so  on  without  limit ;  because 
there  cannot  be  annihilation,  there  must  still  remain ,  some- 
thing to  be  divided.  Well,  when  I  utter  a  word,  that  word 
provokes  its  echo,  and  that  echo  another,  and  that  another, 
and  though  the  reverberations  may  be  so  minute  that  we  do 
not  hear  them,  that  is  owing  to  the  deadness  of  our  hearing, 
not  to  those  echoes  ceasing  to  be  repeated,  —  a  sound,  like 
an  inch  may  be  divided  ad  infinitum.  So  that  a  word 
lightly  spoken  goes  round,  and  round,  and  round  the  globe, 
and  God  may  make  it  audible  at  the  judgment  like  thunder 
in  the  ear  of  the  hypocrite  that  uttered  it  once,  and  thought 
the  darkness  or  distance  Avould  quench  it ;  but  he  discovers 
now  that  it  was  only  hushed  for  the  time,  not  suppressed. 

Our  Lord  then  warns  them  whom  they  were  to  fear: 
"  And  I  say  unto  you,  my  friends,  Be  not  afraid  of  them  that 
kill  the  body,  and  after  that  have  no  more  that  they  cian  do. 
But  I  will  forewarn  you  whom  ye  shall  fear:  Fear  him, 
which  after  he  hath  killed  hath  power  to  cast  into  hell." 
Notice  throughout  the  chapter,  where  he  speaks  of  the  body 


214  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

and  the  soul  —  of  treasure  in  the  skies,  and  of  the  Lord 
coming  and  rewarding  his  servants  —  that  he  assumes 
throughout  the  everlasting  and  separate  existence  of  the 
soul.  Some  persons  have  expressed  wonder  that  the  New 
Testament  does  not  reiterate  and  repeat  in  stronger  terms 
the  fact  that  the  soul  survives  the  body.  But  it  does  what 
I  think  is  still  more  instructive  —  it  assumes  it  in  every 
text.  The  thing  is  so  plain,  so  clear,  so  indubitable,  that 
our  Lord  assumes  it  as  that  which  no  man  in  his  senses  will 
doubt.  And  we  cannot  be  surprised  at  this.  What  is  that 
which  I  see,  and  hear,  and  touch,  and  handle,  which  a  fever 
can  reduce  to  dust,  which  death  will  lay  in  the  grave,  with 
which  corruption  will  claim  sisterhood,  and  the  worm  friend- 
ship ?  —  Is  that  the  mighty  being  who  can  send  his  soaring 
thoughts  beyond  the  stars,  that  can  weigh  the  everlasting 
.  hills,  that  can  mete  out  the  ocean,  and  estimate  its  depth,  its 
density,  its  length,  and  its  breadth  —  can  I  suppose  that 
mighty  creature  a  thing  of  forty  —  fifty  —  sixty  —  seventy 
years  of  age  ?  It  is  impossible ;  the  body  is  but  the  shell, 
it  is  but  the  tabernacle  in  which  I  move  for  a  little,  till  I  am 
translated  from  this  mortal  to  yon  immortal,  —  from  this 
perishable  house,  to  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in 
the  heavens.  And  one  knows  that  when  death  comes  we  do 
not  die.  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  dying 
in  the  literal  sense  of  the  word.  When  the  eye  closes,  and 
the  heart,  weary  with  its  beating,  stands  still,  there  is  no  loss 
of  consciousness  ;  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  momentary  sus- 
pension of  complete  consciousness  in  our  transition  from  this 
life  to  that  life  which  is  to  be;  there  is  simply  the  little 
struggle  of  the  soul  in  disentangling  itself  from  the  pulleys 
and  the  ropes  that  we  call  sinews  and  muscles,  and  all  the 
roofing  and  walls  of  this  mortal  residence  in  which  it  has 
been  sojourning  as  a  stranger  for  a  little ;  but  it  never,  even 
in  transitu,  loses  its  consciousness.  No ;  when  the  body  is 
nearest  dissolution,  and  friends  that  stand  by  in  their  help- 


LUKE   XII.  215 

« 

lessness  weep  the  sorest,  the  soul  is  then  unfurling  its  ma- 
jestic pinions,  taking  its  loftiest  flight,  and  not  pausing  in  its 
upward  movement  till  it  join  in  singing  the  praises  of  God 
amid  the  cherubim  and  the  seraphim  of  the  sky.  Fear  not, 
then,  that  which  can  dissolve  the  perishable  tabernacle ;  but 
love,  and  fear,  and  worship  Him  who  receives  the  sanctified 
soul  to  himself,  and  makes  it  happy  and  holy  for  ever,  or 
can  reject  it  for  ever. 

In  this  chapter  our  Lord  pursues  a  series  of  illustrations 
very  beautiful.  He  says,  "  Five  sparrows  are  so  worthless, 
so  cheap,  that  they  are  sold  for  tAvo  farthings,"  —  more 
money  than  two  farthings  mean  in  our  coinage,  but  still  a 
very  small  sum.  "  Well,"  he  says,  "  if  the  sparrow  which 
is  so  worthless  a  creature,  —  it  does  not  sing,  it  is  not  used 
for  common  food,  it  has  not  a  beautiful  plumage, —  and  ap- 
parently so  useless  to  us,  upon  the  housetop,  is  actually 
superintended  by  God,  —  if  it  cannot  fall,  wing-wearied,  to 
the  earth  without  his  cognizance,  is  it  possible  to  conclude 
that  this  great  creature  man,  great  in  his  ruins,  majestic 
even  in  his  degradation,  is  overlooked  and  forgotten  by  that 
God  whose  jDOwer  reaches  the  highest,  whose  beneficence 
comprehends  and  ministers  to  the  very  lowest  ?  "  And  as 
if  still  more  strikingly  to  convince  you,  he  says,  "  The  very 
hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered."  And  what  a  thought 
is  here  !  It  is  literally  so ;  but  our  Lord  means  to  teach  us 
this,  that  the  least  turning  of  a  corner  is  all  foreseen  and 
prearranged  by  God.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  loose 
screw  or  a  broken  pin  in  the  history  of  the  humblest  of  man- 
kind ;  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  chance  occurrence  which 
God  did  not  foresee,  superintend,  and  evoke,  either  for  his 
glory,  or  to  your  good.  The  very  hairs  of  our  head  are 
numbered.  And  if  our  hairs  be  numbered,  can  we  suppose 
that  our  footsteps  are  not,  that  our  thoughts,  our  fears,  our 
hopes,  our  anxieties  are  not  ?  God  is  in  the  whole  stream 
of  human  life,  in  its  roaring  cataracts,  in  its  little  eddies ;  in 


216  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

all  in  it  that  is  magnificently  great,  in  all  in  it  that  is  minutely 
small,  God  is  there.  And  as  I  have  often  said  to  you  — 
what  I  think  is  worth  repeating  —  God  takes  as  great  care 
of  that  poor  orphan  as  if  he  had  nothing  else  to  do  but  to 
look  after  that  orphan  in  all  space  and  in  all  time.  What  a 
blessed  thought  is  this !  it  is  the  greatness  of  God,  it  is  the 
glory  of  God,  that  so  minute  a  thing,  so  frail  a  thing,  is  so 
truly  the  object  of  his  special  cognizance.  And  if  this  be  so, 
then  whilst  I  am  in  the  way  of  duty  I  am  in  the  path  of  im- 
mortality. 

He  then  goes  on  to  explain  who  shall  be  confessed  by  the 
Son  of  man ;  namely  those  that  have  the  magnanimity  to 
confess  —  where  they  have  had  previously  the  grace  to  feel 
—  the  glory  and  excellence  of  the  Son  of  man  before  men. 

He  next  speaks  of  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  This 
occurs  without  any  previous  context ;  but  in  a  parallel  pas- 
sage we  have  it  in  its  pro^^er  context :  and  there  it  was  when 
the  Pharisees  alleged  that  Jesus  did  miracles  by  Beelzebub, 
or  by  Satanic  power.  He  said  that  such  was  sin  against  the 
Holy  Ghost,  their  ascribing  miracles  clearly  from  God  to 
Satan  the  Wicked  One,  and  the  Prince  of  the  power  of  the 
air.  I  have  known  excellent  Christians  who  seem  to  have 
an  idea  that  this  sin  might  be  still  committed  by  them.  I 
do  not  believe  that  such  a  thing  is  possible,  or  that  such  a 
thing  now  occurs.  I  think  it  was  a  special  oifence  that  could 
be  perpetrated  only  then,  and  I  know  nothing  that  corre- 
sponds to  it  now,  except  final  and  complete  rejection  of  the 
Gospel,  and  refusal  of  the  great  salvation  provided  there. 
There  is  no  period  in  the  life  of  the  worst  of  mankind  where 
this  text  is  not  applicable  in  all  its  efficacy,  "  The  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin." 

He  then  makes  an  incident  that  occurs,  the  basis  of  very 
valuable  instruction  on  the  subject  of  covetousness.  One  of 
the  company  rudely  interrupted  him  while  speaking  of  divine 
things,  by  asking  him  to  interfere  in  a  mere  matter  of  human 


LUKE    XII.  217 

or  of  personal  dispute.     Jesus  replied  to  liim,  "Man/* 

that  is  a  phrase  of  respect,  —  "  Man,  who  made  me  a  judge 
or  a  divider  ?  "  That  is  a  very  important  lesson.  It  seems 
to  refer  to  all,  but  more  especially  to  ministers  of  the  Gos- 
pel. Our  blessed  Lord  came  to  preach  the  truth,  and 
through  the  truth,  holiness  of  life ;  but  he  refused  to  inter- 
meddle with  political  or  national  disputes.  Now,  it  seems 
to  me,  that  the  minister  of  the  Gospel  must  not  take  the 
place  of  the  magistrate  or  the  judge,  that  is  not  his  place ; 
it  is  his  duty  to  preach ;  but  the  instant  that  he  interferes 
with  the  party  politics  of  the  day,  he  degrades  the  pastor  of 
Christ  into  the  partisan  of  Ccesar,  his  right  hand  parts  with 
its  cunning,  and  his  greatest  efficiency  in  promoting  the 
blessed  Gospel  is  impaired  and  diluted  to  the  very  utmost. 
Jesus  makes  this  interruption,  however,  an  occasion  for  giv- 
ing instruction ;  and  he  says,  "  Take  heed,  and  beware  of 
covetousness ;  for  a  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abun- 
dance of  the  things  which  he  possesseth,"  —  or,  as  he  ex- 
presses himself  in  another  passage,  "  Man  doth  not  live  by 
bread  alone."  His  "  life  "  means  here  his  true  life  :  his  real 
happiness  does  not  consist  in  abundance.  You  will  not  find 
that  the  rich  man  is  one  whit  happier  than  the  poor  man. 
The  poor  man  has  great  struggles  how  to  make  ends  meet, 
but  the  rich  man  has  many  greater  struggles,  and  worse 
fears  how  to  keep  what  he  has,  and  guard  from  the  conse- 
quences of  what  he  has.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  real 
happiness  deducible  from  earthly  possessions.  We  think  so 
when  we  have  it  not ;  but  the  instant  that  we  have  got  it,  we 
find  how  mistaken  we  were  when  we  looked  forward  to  it  as 
happiness  ;  and  how  little  satisfied  we  are  amid  the  possession 
of  the  things  of  this  life.  But  to  illustrate  this,  "  he  spake 
a  parable  unto  them,  saying.  The  ground  of  a  certain  rich 
man  brought  forth  plentifully."  Then  the  rains  descend 
and  the  sun  shines  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust.  Here  was 
a  bad  man  made  rich.  You  must  never,  my  dear  friends, 
19 


218  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

estimate  moral  and  spiritual  character  by  providential  oc- 
currences. One  man  dies  in  a  church ;  he  is  not  therefore 
saved  :  another  man  dies  in  a  playhouse ;  he  is  not  therefore 
lost.  You  must  not  pronounce  judgment  from  providential 
occurrences,  but  only  on  ascertained,  carefully  ascertained, 
moral  and  spiritual  character.  One  man  who  is  very  wicked 
becomes  rich,  but  those  riches  are  not  the  sign  of  God's 
blessing.  Another  man,  who  is  a  saint,  dies  a  sufferer,  as 
he  lived  a  suiferer ;  but  that  is  not  the  evidence  that  God 
has  forsaken  him.  "Think  ye  that  those  eighteen  upon 
whom  the  tower  of  Siloam  fell,  and  .slew  them,  were  sinners 
above  all  men  that  dwelt  in  Jerusalem  ?  —  I  tell  you,  Nay ;  " 
instead  of  judging  others,  "  except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all 
likewise  perish."  Well,  this  rich  man  instantly  thought 
within  himself.  What  shall  I  do  ?  One  would  have  thought 
the  answer  would  have  been  very  obvious.  If  he  had  had 
a  liberal  heart,  he  would  have  said,  "  There  is  a  poor  hun- 
gry man  in  the  cottage  close  by,  I  will  give  him  food ;  there 
is  another  poor  man  who  wants  a  blanket,  I  will  give  him 
one;  there  is  a  man  that  wants  a  Bible,  I  will  give  him 
one."  It  would  have  been  no  great  difficulty  if  he  had 
looked  wider  than  the  circumference  of  himself.  "  What 
shall  I  do,  because  I  have  no  room  where  to  bestow  my 
fruits  ?  "  I  have  got  more  than  I  can  positively  take  care 
•of.  Then  he  said,  "This  will  I  do"  —  not,  I  will  give  to 
those  who  have  not  —  "I  will  pull  down  my  barns,  and 
build  greater ;  and  there  will  I  bestow,"  or  store  up,  "  all  my 
fruits  and  my  goods."  You  see  the  word  "  I  "  is  predomi- 
nant throughout ;  there  is  a  great  deal  about  what  /will  do ; 
about  my  fruits,  and  my  goods  —  all  about  myself;  and,  "  I 
will  say  to  my  soul,"  as  if  he  had  the  future  in  his  hand  as 
well  as  the  past,  "  Soul,  thou  hast  much  goods  laid  up  for 
many  years;  take  thine  ease,  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry." 
That  is  just  what  the  world  says  still,  and  then  it  finds  what 
he  found,  —  "  Thou  fool,  this  night  thy  soul  shall  be  required 


LUKE    XII.  219 

of  thee :  then  whose  shall  those  things  be  which  thou  hast 
provided  ?  So  is  he  that  layeth  up  treasure  for  himself,  and 
is  not  rich  toward  God."  Then  he  teaches  his  disciples  a 
lesson  from  this  event ;  and  says,  "  Take  no  thought  for  your 
life."  I  explained  in  my  remarks  on  St.  Matthew  that  the 
word  "thought"  is  the  translation,  not  of  the  Greek  word, 
which  means  proper,  just  thought,  but  of  a  Greek  word, 
uepifj.va,  that  means  thought  that  rends  and  distracts  the  soul, 
and  tears  it  asunder  with  anxiety;  that  is  the  literal  mean- 
ing of  it.  Well,  he  says,  Do  not  take  such  thought  as  this. 
You  must  take  thought  for  to-morrow.  A  man  that  on  Mon- 
day recollects  that  he  has  debts  to  pay  on  Tuesday,  ought  to 
take  thought  about  Tuesday ;  and  the  man  that  has  a  family 
to  provide  for,  ought  to  take  thought  how  he  shall  provide 
for  his  family  ;  but  he  ought  not  to  take  distracting,  perplex- 
ing, anxious  thought  about  it;  for  "the  life  is  more  than 
meat,  and  the  body  is  more  than  raiment ;  "  and  if  God  keep 
up  your  life  by  the  continuous  touch  that  he  communicates 
to  your  heart,  how  much  more  will  he  bestow  upon  you, 
whilst  you  are  in  the  path  of  duty,  the  elements  of  the  sup- 
port and  the  perpetuity  of  that  life.  And  therefore  he  ar- 
gues with  tliem,  God  takes  care  of  the  ravens  in  the  wood, 
he  takes  care  of  the  lihes  of  the  field ;  he  feeds  the  one,  and 
he  clothes  the  evanescent  lily  with  a  glory  and  a  splendor 
that  Solomon  never  had.  If  God  lavishes  so  much  care  in 
feeding  the  ravens ;  if  God  expends  so  much  of  his  grace 
that  he  tints  a  lily  as  exquisitely  as  if  he  had  been  employed 
from  creation  in  doing  nothing  else,  Avill  he  not  take  care  of 
you,  O  ye  of  little  faith  ?  Why,  such  a  picture  as  this  is 
enough  to  che-er  and  electrify  the  most  doubting  and  trem- 
bling heart ;  and  to  give  peace,  and  joy,  and  comfort  to  the 
most  troubled  spirit.  And  therefore  he  says,  Do  not  perplex 
yourselves  about  these  things ;  but  "  seek  first  the  kingdom 
of  God,"  make  religion  the  main  thing,  and  all  these,  the 
subordinate  things,  will  be  added  unto  you. 


220  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Jesus  seeks  tliroughout  to  inspire  implicit  and  unsuspect- 
ing confidence  in  his  paternal  love,  in  his  omniscience,  in 
his  omnipresence,  in  his  flxithfulness  to  all  his  promises  to- 
wards his  people.  If  Ood  so  take  care  of  a  lily  that 
springs  up  beautiful  for  a  day  or  two,  and  decorates  it  so 
beautifully  that  it  looks  as  if  he  had  spent  years  in  doing  it, 
will  he  altogether  neglect  or  overlook  creatures  intellectually 
so  magnificent,  and  morally  occupying  so  responsible  a  posi- 
tion as  his  intelligent,  dependent,  and  believing  family? 
The  thing  is  impossible ;  therefore  do  not  perplex  your 
minds  about  the  fears  of  to-morrow,  or  about  the  troubles 
of  next  year,  but  act  upon  this  principle  —  seek  first  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  the  rest  will 
be  added ;  that  is,  set  your  hearts  supremely  upon  divine 
things,  and  human  things  will  be  ordered  better  than  you 
expect;  look  first  of  all  to  what  is  duty,  in  reference  to 
God ;  and  leave  to  him  the  management  and  control  of  all 
that  is  before  you.  You  cannot  produce  in  to-morrow's  sky 
a  single  cloud  ;  you  cannot  to-morrow  guarantee  one  ray  of 
sunshine  ;  no  anxiety  to-day  about  what  will  be  to-morrow 
will  have  the  least  effect  upon  to-morrow,  and  it  will  have 
a  very  injurious  effect  upon  yourselves  ;  therefore  cease  to 
have  anxious,  irritating  thoughts  about  the  future,  which  we 
know  nothing  of;  and  fulfil  all  the  responsibilities  and 
duties  of  the  present  which  is  before  us ;  and  thus  you, 
minding  God's  part,  will  find  by  all  experience  that  he  will 
mind  and  take  care  of  your  well-being.  He  then  tells  them 
that  where  their  treasure  is,  there  the  heart  will  be  also. 
That  is  the  best  test  and  criterion  of  what  a  man  is.  Where 
his  heart  is,  his  treasure  is ;  and  the  converse  is  true,  where 
his  treasure  is,  his  heart  is.  Some  have  their  hearts  in 
their  houses  of  business,  others  in  politics,  others  in  litera- 
ture, others  in  some  other  elegant  accomplishment ;  but  if 
the  heart  be  there  wholly,  it  is  in  a  wrong  place.  The  trea- 
sure is  in  heaven  ;  the  heart  should  be,  not  exclusively,  but 
supremely  there  also. 


LUKE    XII.  221 

He  then  gives  an  illustration  of  what  will  be  said  at  the 
end,  when  the  Lord  returns  at  the  wedding  feast,  and  finds 
some  —  his  friends  —  waiting  and  watching,  and  receives 
them  to  himself,  and  makes  them  happy.  He  bids- believers 
still,  "  Be  ready ;  for  the  Son  of  m,an  cometh  at  an  hour 
when  ye  think  not."  That  does  not  mean,  as  it  is  too  often 
used  to  denote,  the  hour  of  death.  It  may  be  quite  true 
that  we  know  not  when  death  comes ;  but  this  is  not  the 
meaning  of  this  text ;  and  it  is  not  fair  to  take  texts  that 
clearly  allude  to  one  thing,  and  to  force  them  into  an  appli- 
cation to  a  thing  perfectly  different.  What  is  spoken  of 
here  is  a  master  returning  from  the  feast  during  one  of  the 
watches  into  which  the  night  was  divided ;  they  not  knowing 
whether  he  would  come  at  the  second,  third,  or  fourth  watch. 
So  he  says :  "  Be  ye  ready ;  for  ye  know  not  whether  the 
Son  of  man  will  come  this  year,  next  year,  or  twenty  years 
hence."  The  constant  attitude  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is 
that  of  expectancy ;  the  bride  waiting  for  the  bridegroom, 
knowing  not  when  he  will  come ;  waiting  and  longing  for 
the  return  of  Him  who  has  promised  to  come  again,  in  like 
manner  as  they  saw  him  go.  I  presume,  therefore,  that  this 
text,  "  Be  ye  ready,"  relates  to  the  coming  of  our  Lord. 
And  it  is  remarkable  enough,  that  death  is  not  more  than 
once,  if  once,  used  as  a  motive  in  the  New  Testament.  You 
are  never  told  to  be  Christians  because  you  die,  but  to  be 
Christians  because  the  Lord  cometh,  or  because  the  coming 
of  the  Lord  draweth  near.  These  words  do  not  mean 
death ;  they  mean  the  advent  of  Christ.  Death  ought  to  be 
annihilated  in  a  Christian's  fears,  just  as  its  sting  has  been 
taken  away  in  historic  fact ;  and  we  ought  to  look  beyond 
the  valley,  which  is  all  dark,  and  see  only  the  sunlit  moun- 
tain crag  that  shines  in  the  beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness far  beyond  it.  A  Christian  has  nothing  to  do  with 
death,  except  as  he  has  to  do  with  tribulation,  or  affliction, 
or  distress ;  and  he  is  to  look  beyond  it  and  above  it,  and 

19* 


222  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

brave  it  wlien  it  does  come  for  the  sake  of  the  bright  shores 
and  happy  lands  that  lie  beyond  it. 

Our  Lord  then  speaks  of  the  treatment  of  those  who  had 
much  light,  but  hid  that  light,  or  were  actually  unworthy  of 
it.  If  one  shall  say,  "  My  lord  delayeth  his  coming,  and 
shall  begin  to  beat  the  men  servants  and  maidens,  and  to 
eat  and  drink,  and  to  be  drunken,"  then  such  a  servant 
shall  be  specially  punished.  "And  that  servant,  which 
knew  his  lord's  will,  and  prepared  not  himself,  neither  did 
according  to  his  will,  shall  be  beaten  with  many  stripes. 
But  he  that  knew  not,  and  did  commit  things  worthy  of 
stripes,  shall  be  beaten  with  few  stripes."  This  denotes  that 
there  are  degrees  of  penalty  in  the  world  to  come ;  just  as 
there  are  degrees  of  chastisement  in  this.  There  are  degrees 
of  penalty  in  the  future,  and  there  are  degrees  of  glory; 
only  not  in  proportion  to  the  degrees  of  merit,  but  in  pro- 
portion to  the  capacity  of  each  individual  that  enters  into 
heaven. 

Place  in  the  ocean  twenty  vessels  of  different  size ;  each 
vessel  submerged  in  the  sea  will  be  full,  but  one  vessel  will 
contain  ten  times  the  amount  of  another.  And  so  of  twenty 
individuals  placed  in  heaven;  each  will  be  full,  each  will 
be  perfectly  happy  up  to  the  amount  of  his  capacity ;  but 
one  will  be  capable  of  more  enjoyment  than  another  ;  capac- 
ity perhaps  produced  on  earth  of  different  degrees;  and 
therefore  there  will  be  degrees  of  glory  in  heaven. 

He  then  warns  them  of  the  signs  of  the  times ;  and  he 
says,  "  When  ye  see  a  cloud  rise  out  of  the  west,  straightway 
ye  say,  There  cometh  a  shower."  That  is  so  perfectly 
natural  that  one  can  see  it  was  spoken  in  Palestine.  If  you 
place  yourself  in  Palestine,  at  Jerusalem,  and  look  to  the 
hills  of  Lebanon,  that  is,  the  north,  you  will  find  that  to  the 
eastward,  on  your  right,  there  is  land ;  and  to  the  westward, 
on  your  left,  there  is  the  sea-coastj  against  which  breaks 
the  Mediterranean  sea.     Now,  therefore,  when  our  Lord 


LUKE  XII.  223 

says,  "When  ye  see  a  cloud  rise  out  of  tlie  west,  —  that 
is,  from  the  sea-side  of  Palestine,  from  whence  clouds  were 
generated,  —  "  ye  say  there  cometh  a  shower ;  and  so  it  is. 
And  when  ye  see  the  south  wind  blow"  —  which  comes  over 
the  Dead  sea,  and  overland,  —  "  ye  say.  There  will  be  heat ; 
and  it  cometh  to  pass."  Well  then,  he  argues,  if  you  thus 
judge  of  physical  events  by  physical  phenomena,  why  should 
you  not  judge  of  moral  and  spiritual  events  by  moral  and 
spiritual  signs  ?  Warranting  us,  therefore,  to  study  unful- 
filled prophecy,  to  watch  its  unfolding  in  historic  facts,  and 
to  gather  humbly  and  reverently  indications  where  we  are 
by  the  signs  that  we  see  in  connection  with  God's  word.  For 
instance,  Simeon,  and  Anna  the  prophetess,  knew  quite  well 
the  time  in  which  they  lived  by  reading  God's  prophetic 
word  in  the  Old  Testament  in  connection  with  the  signs  of 
the  times  about  them.  So  the  Jews,  many  of  them,  believed 
that  the  Messiah  was  at  hand,  by  comparing  signs  and  jiroph- 
ecies.  And  so  we  may  gather  that  we  are  drawing  near 
to  the  end,  it  may  be  the  dark  and  the  gloomy  end,  of  this 
world,  or  rather  of  this  dispensation,  but  an  eve  that  will 
be  a  short  night,  and  issue  in  the  twilight  of  an  everlasting 
and  a  blessed  morn.  He  thus  teaches  us  that  we  may  judge 
of  where  we  are  and  what  we  may  look  for  by  the  phenom- 
ena that  are  taking  place  around  us.  You  will  recollect  that 
I  explained  to  you  some  years  ago,  when  I  lectured  in  Exeter 
Hall,*  that  in  the  sixth  vial  the  great  river  Euphrates  was 
to  be  dried  up;  that  it  began  in  1820  to  be  dried  up;  and 
more  than  one  student  of  prophecy  predicted,  more  than  a 
hundred  years  ago,  that  the  Turkish  empire  would  begin 
its  gradual  decay  in  1819  or  1820.  Another  very  enlight- 
ened and  very  Christian  person  stated  more  than  ten  or 
twelve  years  ago  that  he  thought,  judging  from  the  wording 
of  that  prophecy,  that  the  Turkish  empire  would  cease  to  be 

*  See  "  Apocalyptic  Sketches." 


224  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

an  empire  at  all  very  soon  after  1840.  And  now  the  present 
aspect  of  it  shows  that  its  destruction  is  inevitable ;  peace 
will  extinguish  it,  war  will  extinguish  it;  and  whether  it 
be  peace  or  war  —  whether  it  be  its  own  Asiatic  hordes  in 
the  midst  of  it,  or  the  Russian  autocrat,  its  doom  is  equally 
fixed,  its  decay  is  certain  ;  and  all  the  statesmen  of  the  world 
may  prop  it  as  they  like,  they  cannot  arrest  or  prevent  what 
God  has  decreed,  —  the  utter  waning  of  the  crescent,  to  be 
followed  by  the  utter  doAvnfall  of  Babylon,  the  return  of 
God's  ancient  people  the  Jews,  and  the  covering  of  the 
whole  earth  with  the  light  and  glory  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
Yet  our  knowledge  of  prophecy  is  not  to  affect  our  duties. 
Prophecy  is  difficult  —  duty  is  plain. 

Never  certainly  were  the  multiplying  signs  of  the  times 
so  startling  and  suggestive  as  at  the  present  moment.  All 
Europe  seems  aroused.  Ancient  landmarks  and  boundlines 
are  threatened  with  extinction.  Whatever  the  nations  of 
the  earth  do  or  forbear  to  do,  Christians  have  a  clear  course 
before  them.  We  know  who  reigns.  We  know  what  must 
be  the  ultimate  issue.  The  true  Church  is  everywhere  and 
always  safe.  But  it  becomes  us  to  pray  for  mankind  —  for 
Christians  —  for  the  02^pressed  and  the  oppressor ;  to  send 
out  that  religion  which  gives  peace  on  earth  and  glory  to 
God  —  to  multiply  our  missions  —  circulate  the  Bible,  and 
so  bring  God's  people  out  of  bondage  into  freedom  and 
everlasting  light.  In  our  worst  troubles,  this  is  our  song :  — 
"  God  is  our  refuge  and  strength,  a  very  present  help  in 
trouble.  Therefore  will  not  we  fear,  though  the  earth  be 
removed,  and  though  the  mountains  be  carried  into  the 
midst  of  the  sea ;  though  the  waters  thereof  roar  and  be 
troubled,  though  the  mountains  shake  with  the  swelling 
thereof.  There  is  a  river,  the  streams  whereof  shall  make 
glad  the  city  of  God,  the  holy  place  of  the  tabernacles  of 
the  most  High.  God  is  in  the  midst  of  her ;  she  shall  not 
be  moved :  God  shall  help  her,  and  that  right  early.     The 


LUKE  XII.  225 

heathen  raged,  the  kingdoms  were  moved :  he  uttered  his 
voice,  the  earth  melted.  The  Lord  of  hosts  is  with  us ;  the 
God  of  Jacob  is  our  refu^.  Come,  behold  the  works  of 
the  Lord,  what  desolations  he  hath  made  in  the  earth.  He 
maketh  wars  to  cease  unto  the  end  of  the  earth ;  he  break- 
eth  the  bow,  and  cutteth  the  spear  in  sunder ;  he  burneth 
the  chiariot  in  the  fire.  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God ; 
I  will  be  exalted  among  the  heathen,  I  will  be  exalted  in 
the  earth.  The  Lord  of  hosts  is  with  us ;  the  God  of  Jacob 
is  our  refuse."  Ps.  xlvi. 


CHAPTER    XII.    51-53. 

DIVISION  IK  THIS  DISPENSATION  —  REASONS  OF  —  CAUSES  OF  — 
FALLEN  RACE  —  SIN  —  ENMITY  OF  NATURAL  MAN — PRESENCE 
OF  SATAN  —  FAMILIES. 

There  is  one  truth  in  this  chapter  worthy,  because  difB- 
cuh,  of  special  exposition.  It  is  in  these  words :  "  Suppose 
ye  that  I  am  come  to  give  peace  on  earth  ?  I  tell  you,  Nay; 
but  rather  division :  for  from  henceforth  there  shall  be  five 
in  one  house  divided,  three  against  two,  and  two  against 
three.  The  father  shall  be  divided  against  the  son,  and  the 
son  against  the  father;  the  mother  against  the  daughter, 
and  the  daughter  against  the  mother ;  the  mother-in-law 
against  her  daughter-in  law,  and  the  daughter-in-law  against 
her  mother-in-law."     Luke  xii.  51-53. 

Our  Lord  expressed  the  same  sentiment  in  a  previous 
Gospel,  when  he  said,  in  Matthew  x.  34,  "  Think  not  that  I 
am  come  to  send  peace  on  earth :  I  came  not  to  send  peace, 
but  a  sword."  I  have  selected  these  words  for  special 
study,  because  they  seem  to  contradict  many  texts  alluding 
to  the  peace  that  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  establish 
over  all  the  earth.  You  will  ask,  naturally,  after  reading 
such  words,  how  it  is  possible  to  harmonize  it  with  such  a 
passage  as  this:  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest:  on  earth 
peace,  good-will  to  men,"  as  being  the  very  characteristic, 
and  the  substance,  and  tlie  end  of  the  Saviour's  advent  and 
birth.  Or,  it  may  be  asked,  how  can  we  harmonize  it  with 
such  a  passage  as  this:  "In  me,"  says  the  Saviour,  "ye 

(226) 


LUKE  XII.  227 

shall  have  peace :  in  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation  ?  " 
Or,  with  his  own  definition,  when  he  says,  "  The  kingdom  of 
God  is  not  meat  and  drink ;  but  righteousness,  and  peace, 
and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  " 

I  answer,  that  suppose  we  were  unable  to  harmonize  the 
one  text  with  the  other,  it  would  not  prove  that  they  are 
incapable  of  harmony,  or  that  the  one  is  really  antagonistic 
to  the  other.  We  must  not  think  that  texts  that  we  cannot 
now  see  the  harmony  of,  have  no  harmony ;  but  rather, 
when  we  are  sure  that  each  text  is  inspired  by  the  same 
God,  if  we  cannot  see  its  coincidence  with  another,  we 
should  take  both  as  true,  because  both  are  equally  inspired ; 
and  wait  for  that  blessed  and  approaching  day,  when  those 
things  that  seem  contrary,  shall  be  found  to  be  one ;  and 
texts  that  sound  to  our  ears  discordant,  shall  be  seen  from  a 
loftier  point  of  view,  and  in  a  brighter  light,  and  in  happier 
circumstances,  to  be  all  part  and  parcel  of  the  same  grand 
and  blessed  harmony.  But,  in  this  instance,  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  harmonize ;  not  by  paring  down  the  one  that  it  may 
dovetail  with  the  other,  but  by  looking  at  each  text  in  its 
own  light,  and  in  the  light  of  those  spiritual  and  Christian 
considerations  in  which  every  one  must,  when  he  under- 
takes to  study  the  Bible,  look  at  them. 

It  is  necessary  to  define  before  proceeding  to  explain,  that 
many  things  are  confounded  wdth  peace,  which  really  are 
not  peace.  Silence  is  not  peace  ;  quiet  is  not ;  insensibility 
is  not ;  indifference  is  not.  On  the  contrary,  these  are  often 
intense  elements  of  discord.  The  disturbance  of  a  quiet 
that  is  not  based  upon  truth,  is  duty  ;  and  the  maintenance 
of  insensibility  or  indifference  would  be  sin.  Neither  pen- 
ance, nor  sackcloth,  nor  any  ceremony  prescribed  by  man, 
either  is,  or  can  give  that  peace  which  the  Saviour  says  in 
one  text  he  came  to  establish;  and  which  he  says,  with 
equal  truth,  in  another  text,  he  came  not  to  send,. but 
a   sword   and    division   upon   earth.     Now  the   two  texts 


228  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

are  easily  explained  if  we  will  only  distinguish.  Christ 
came,  not  to  send  immediate,  but  ultimate  and  eternal 
peace ;  his  purpose  is  ultimate  and  everlasting  peace,  his 
prophecy  is  present  and  temporary  disturbance.  Disturb- 
ance is  the  present  inevitable  incident,  peace  is  the  ultimate 
and  everlasting  issue.  The  disturbance  or  disquiet  is  the 
incidental;  the  peace  that  will  follow  is  what  he  came  to 
establish.  It  is  peace  through  controversy,  not  peace  where 
there  is  no  peace  at  all. 

The  reason  of  this  will  appear  perfectly  obvious,  when,  we 
remember  that  this  world  is  a  corrupt  and  a  fallen  one  ;  and 
whatever  comes  into  the  world  contrary  to  the  world's  great- 
est preferences  and  predilections,  is  sure  to  meet  with  the 
world's  stern  and  unsparing  opposition.  Jesus  came  into 
the  world  to  his  own,  and  we  are  told,  his  own  received  him 
not.  The  light  coming  into  darkness,  creates  a  struggle 
which  of  the  two  shall  have  the  mastery ;  holiness  coming 
down  upon  a  heart  that  is  unsanctified,  and,  by  nature,  en- 
mity to  God,  provokes  controversy :  and  only  when  the  con- 
troversy is  laid,  will  the  peace  that  passeth  understanding 
enter  and  abide  for  ever.  It  is  a  law  of  our  economy,  "  No 
cross,  no  crown."  Our  journey  is  across  a  stormy  and  tem- 
pestuous ocean,  to  a  haven  of  perpetual  peace.  The  quiet 
flame  of  peace  can  only  be  kindled  from  the  coals  of  stern 
and  earnest  discussion  ;  truly  it  is  a  sad  world  — ;a  sad  and 
a  sorrowful  world  —  in  which  the  arrival  of  mercy  to  forgive 
it,  love  to  lighten  it,  and  peace  to  keep  it,  awakes  only  hos- 
tility and  opposition. 

Peace  is  the  great  purpose  of  God ;  but  conflict  is  inci- 
dental in  the  pursuit  of  it.  The  sword  is  not  what  Christ 
sends,  but  what  the  world  unsheathes  when  he  sends  peace. 
The  sword  is  not  the  direct  purpose  of  Christ,  but  the  inci- 
dental consequence  of  Christ  coming  into  the  world.  You 
can  understand  the  distinction  between  that  which  is  a  direct 
effect  and  issue  of  a  thing,  and  that  which  is  the  incidental 


LUKE   XII.  229 

occurrence  in  prosecuting  that  thing.  You  endow  an  hos- 
pital, you  appoint  workmen  to  build  it :  in  the  course  of  its 
erection,  a  scaffolding  gives  way,  and  several  workmen  lose 
their  lives.  The  curing  of  disease  is  the  object  of  the  hos- 
pital ;  the  destruction  of  life  in  the  erection  of  it,  was  the 
incidental  occurrence  in  promoting  the  beneficent  and  the 
ultimate  issue.  So  peace  is  the  end  of  the  Gospel ;  Christ 
came  to  estabhsh  it ;  but  war,  conflict,  dispute,  discussion,  are 
the  incidental  occurrences,  not  part  and  parcel  of  the  ulti- 
mate design,  but  results  which  are  waked  in  a  world  that 
hates  God,  by  God  coming  down  to  promote  that  which  will 
glorify  him,  and  give  happiness  to  mankind.  We  shall  see 
still  further,  how  this  must  be  the  necessary  accompaniment 
of  Christ's  march  to  establish  peace  over  all  the  earth :  for 
you  will  recollect,  first,  that  before  this  peace  can  be  pre- 
dominant, error  must  be  rooted  up.  Peace  will  not  grow 
upon  the  branches  of  error — a  corrupt  tree.  Peace  blos- 
soms in  its  amaranthine  beauty  only  upon  the  stem  of  pre- 
cious truth.  Now  the  world  loves  error,  and  it  hates  the 
truth.  It  loves  the  error,  because,  like  the  false  prophet, 
it  prophesies  only  good  about  it ;  it  hates  the  truth,  because 
the  truth  rebukes  its  practices,  and  warns  it  of  the  terrible 
issue  of  those  practices.  Hence,  when  truth  comes  into  the 
world,  laying  bare  the  roots  of  its  error,  telling  that  world  it 
must  renounce  the  error  before  it  can  ever  be  guided  as  by 
a  sure  light  and  lamp  to  everlasting  joy ;  the  world  loving 
the  error  that  is  congenial  to  its  fallen  nature,  and  hating 
the  truth  that  provokes  by  rebuking  it  awakes  that  conflict 
which  has  been  waged  from  age  to  age,  and  will  continue 
from  century  to  century;  till  the  Prince  of  Peace  come  and 
wave  the  sceptre  of  peace  over  a  fallen  and  a  rebellious 
world. 

In  the  next  place,  before  peace  can  be  established  upon 
earth,  sin  has  also  to  be  swept  away :  the  cause  of  the  dis- 
turbance is  sin  determined  to  keep  its  footing.     If  this  orb 

20 


230  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

we  are  tabula  rasa,  not  invaded  by  sin,  then  the  advent  of 
truth  would  provoke  no  collision  whatever ;  but  the  world  is 
tainted  by  sin  to  its  vei:y  core ;  the  trail  of  the  serpent  is 
on  its  loveliest  panoramas,  on  its  most  beautiful  gardens, 
over  all  the  aspects  of  life ;  and  when  God  comes  into  thi? 
world  to  destroy  the  Avorks  of  the  devil,  and  to  put  away  sin 
by  his  own  glorious  presence,  sin,  determined  to  hold  fast, 
antagonistic  to  the  holiness  that  would  dislodge  it,  and  man, 
loving  sin,  because  dead  to  his  duties  and  his  responsibilities, 
and  hating  holiness,  because  he  cannot  yet  appreciate  its 
excellence,  will  rise  up  and  resist  the  only  process  by  Avhich 
peace  can  be  established  in  the  world.  The  sins  of  the 
world  are  not  like  loose  stones  and  rubbish  lying  upon  its 
surface,  that  can  easily  be  swept  away ;  but  they  are  like 
the  roots  of  a  primeval  forest,  gnarled,  interwoven  with  the 
rocks  ;  and  that  cannot  be  utterly  extirpated  from  the  earth 
until  after  terrible  struggle  and  violent  conflict.  The  sword, 
division,  first ;  peace  the  next,  and  only  next. 

In  another  point  of  view,  this  world  itself,  in  all  its  parts, 
resist  the  introduction  of  a  religion  Avhose  ultimate  issue  is 
peace,  but  whose  present  efl:ect  is  disturbance  wherever  it 
first  strikes.  The  world  does  not  like  any  thing  from  the 
future  to  intrude  upon  its  present  enjoyment.  The  thorough 
worldling  always  feels  that  religion  would  disturb  his  gaiety ; 
it  would  blight  his  brightest  joys  if  its  breath  were  for  one 
instant  to  touch  them.  His  canon  is,  "  Eat,  drink  ;  for  to- 
morrow we  die."  God's  truth,  God's  love,  the  future, 
eternity,  are  thoughts  that  cost  him  a  good  deal  of  trouble 
to  keep  down ;  and  that  he  cannot  always  and  everywhere 
get  rid  of.  I  believe  it  costs  a  man  a  great  deal  more 
trouble  to  go  to  everlasting  misery  than  to  get  to  heaven ; 
he  is  having  daily  a  fight  w^ith  conscience,  with  his  convic- 
tions, practising  one  sin  to  keep  down  a  former;  like  a 
bankrupt,  running  deeper  into  debt ;  staving  off"  the  evil  day, 
till  the  end  comes,  when  he  is  lost,  and  his  soul  required  of 


LtIKE    XIT.  231 

him.  Well,  the  world  hates  the  very  thought  of  any  thing 
that  would  disturb  its  enjoyment,  and  therefore  resists  the 
introduction  of  religion.  Speak  to  a  thorough  gay  world- 
ling, about  such  vulgar  things  as  a  Bible,  the  soul,  God,  he 
would  be  shocked,  he  would  be  amazed ;  he  would  accuse 
you  of  a  breach  of  all  the  courtesies  and  of  all  the  politeness 
of  life.  Now,  my  dear  friends,  you  may  take  it  as  a  grand 
guiding  maxim,  —  Wherever  you  are  where  the  thought 
of  God  would  be  a  disturbance,  the  intrusion  of  religion, 
the  soul,  death,  eternity,  a  doing  violence  to  your  heart, 
you  ought  not  to  be  there  ;  it  is  a  wrong  place.  Where- 
ever  religion  is  out  of  place,  you  are  out  of  place  first. 
Religion  ought  to  be  everywhere,  and,  Avith  a  Christian,  it 
will  be  in  harmony  Avith  every  incident  in  his  life,  in  unison 
with  all  the  duties  and  employments  in  which  he  takes  a 
part.  But  you  know  quite  weU,  that  when  God  comes  to 
you,  he  will  not  consent  to  compromise.  He  will  not  take 
up  a  place  in  company  with  idols.  The  love  of  God  wiU 
not  hivouac  with  the  lust  of  the  eye,  the  pride  of  life,  and  the 
love  of  this  world ;  the  truth  of  God  will  not  sit  by  dumb 
and  silent  while  you  sin ;  the  holiness  of  God  will  not 
connive  at  crime,  and  associate  with  Avickedness ;  and  you 
knoAv  this,  —  the  Avorldling  knoAvs  this ;  and  therefore 
his  maxim  is,  "  On  with  the  dance,"  "  eat,  drink,  and  be 
merry ; "  and  his  Avish  is,  —  he  may  not  say  it  with  his  lips, 
but  he  feels  it  Avith  his  heart,  — "  No  God."  Therefore, 
before  there  can  be  peace,  in  his  case,  there  must  be  previous 
conflict ;  a  sword  that  shall  pierce  and  divide  the  thoughts 
and  the  imaginations  of  the  heart  before  there  can  play  upon 
that  heart  the  peace  that  passeth  understanding. 

In  the  next  place,  superstition  Avill  resist  the  introduction 
of  truth,  and  kindle  conflict  before  peace  can  be  established 
oil  the  earth.  Superstition  in  this  world  is  not  only  a  soli- 
tary recluse,  a  lonely  monk  ;  it  has  become  a  manifest  apos- 
tasy, a   consolidated,  powerful   ecclesiastical   organization : 


232  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

and  its  great  design  and  scheme  is,  to  take  the  place  of  Christ, 
and  keep  triitli,  and  righteousness,  and  peace,  out  of  the 
world.  I  have  told  you  often,  wliat  I  dare  say  you  are  not 
ignorant  of,  that  Antichrist  does  not  mean  one  who  is  opposed 
to  Christ.  If  you  were  to  say  to  a  member  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  "  Your  Pope  is  Antichrist,"  as  I  believe  him  to  be  ; 
his  answer  would  be,  "  What !  Antichrist !  Pio  Nono  op- 
posed to  Christ !  Why,  he  wears  his  cross ;  he  worships  him ; 
his  creed  is  called  Christian  ;  he  offers  up  a  sacrifice  every 
Sunday  morning  on  the  altar,  and  he  prays  to  him.  He  op- 
posed to  Christ !  The  thing  is  absurd."  I  answer,  the 
word  Antichrist  does  not  mean  one  opposed  to  Christ ;  the 
preposition  avri,  in  conjunction  with  a  noun  of  office,  does  not 
mean  opposition  to,  but  taking  the  place  of.  For  instance, 
the  word  LvQv-Karoq,  or  pro-consul,  does  not  mean  one  opposed 
to  the  consul,  but  one  appointed  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  the 
consul.  So  uvni3aaL?ievg  is  pro-rex,  in  room  of  the  king ;  so 
Antipope,  in  the  middle  ages,  was  not  one  opposed  to  the 
Pope,  but  one  that  was  the  representative  of  the  Pope ;  he 
tried  to  succeed,  or  take  his  place.  So  Antichrist  does  not 
mean  one  literally  opposed  to  Christ,  but  one  that  dislodges 
Christ,  takes  Christ's  place  ;  or,  in  the  language  of  the  apos- 
tle, "  sits  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself  as  if  he  were 
God  ; "  taking  the  place  of  Christ,  and  so  showing  himself  as 
if  the  great  head  of  the  Church.  Now,  wherever  this  gr^at 
superstition,  this  Antichristian  system  is  concentrated,  there 
must  be  conflict,  before  the  religion  of  error  can  be  extin- 
guished, and  the  peace  that  passeth  understanding  float  and 
wave  like  a  banner  —  for  instance,  over  the  beautiful,  but 
sadly  depraved  and  prostrate  realms  of  Italy.  Hence,  every 
martyrology,  and  the  recent  persecutions  of  Florence,  per- 
petuated still  in  its  prisons,  show  that  there  can  be  no  peace 
between  Christ  and  Antichrist,  between  truth  and  error; 
and  all  the  evil  passions  of  that  system  that  raises  inquisi- 
tions, that  evangelizes  with  the  sword,  that  has  made  the 


LUKE  XII.  233 

earth  drunk  with  the  blood  of  saints,  —  all  the  passions  of 
that  system,  however  repudiated  by  laymen,  who  are  more 
of  Englishmen  than  Ultramontanes,  are  really  not  quenched ; 
and  its  persecutions  will  become  intenser,  as  the  hour  of  its 
dethronement  and  its  dissolution  draws  near.  Dagon  must 
fall  when  the  ark  of  the  Lord  comes  near  ;  the  idols  must  be 
swept  from  their  niches  when  the  Proprietor  and  Lord  of 
the  temple  comes.  But  there  must  be  conflict  before  there 
can  be  peace.  The  temple  must  be  cleansed;  the  strong 
man  must  be  thrust  out,  at  any  price,  by  the  stronger  man, 
before  the  Prince  of  Peace  can  claim  the  temple  as  his  own, 
and  the  children  of  peace  can  have  quiet,  and  happy,  and 
lasting  possession. 

And,  finally,  Satan  will  not  give  up  his  place  in  this 
world  without  a  struggle.  He  is  the  usurper ;  he  is  the 
prince  of  the  power  of  the  air ;  and  as  the  time  of  his  depo- 
sition comes  nearer,  his  efforts  will  be  more  desperate.  You 
remember  the  devils  besought  Jesus  —  I  think  it  is  the  most 
awful  expression  in  the  New  Testament  —  that  they  might 
not  be  sent  to  their  own  place  and  tormented  before  the 
time.  The  time  is  fixed  when  Satan  shall  be  thrust  out  of 
this  world,  and  shall  be  put  in  his  own  dungeon,  wherever 
that  may  be,  and  go  forth  to  deceive  the  nations  no  more 
upon  the  earth.  But,  before  that  takes  place,  he  will  try  to 
hold  fast  his  position ;  he  will  dispute  every  inch  of  ground ; 
he  will  try  and  keep  one  foothold  in  an  orb  over  which  he 
has  gained  so  disastrous  a  usurpation  in  days  that  are 
passed  ;  but  his  head  will  be  bruised,  his  position  and  tenure 
will  close :  for  He  who  is  the  truth  has  said,  that  the  king- 
doms of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  God 
and  of  his  Christ,  and  he  shall  reign  for  ever  and  for  ever. 

You  can  see,  therefore,  that  unless  God  were,  by  the 
force  of  omnipotent  power,  physically  to  right  the  world, 
there  cannot  be  peace  yet ;  but  God  is  carrying  out  a  glori- 
ous scheme,  a  magnificent  conception,  not  of  force,  but  love, 
20* 


234  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

that  is,  the  Gospel ;  and  he  is  doing  it  not  for  us  only,  but 
that  the  lessons  therein  taught  may  be  legible  on  earth  by 
the  inhabitants  of  distant  worlds :  and  I  have  no  doubt  that 
this  earth  on  which  it  is  our  privilege  to  tread,  is  the  most 
intensely  interesting  and  stirring  page  in  God's  infinite  uni- 
verse ;  and  that  immortal  and  glorious  beings  from  afar  gaze 
with  thrilled  and  agitated  hearts  upon  a  world  in  which  a 
drama  draws  to  its  close,  in  comparison  of  which,  creation 
and  providence  are  absolutely  as  nothing. 

Thus,  there  must  be  conflict  before  there  can  be  peace  ; 
and  our  Lord's  prophesying  a  sword  and  division  before 
peace,  is  fulfilling  already  before  our  eyes.  That  all  this 
conflict  will  become  worse  before  the  Prince  of  Peace  comes, 
there  is  no  doubt.  My  impression  is,  that  that  advent  is  not 
very  distant.  I  told  you  in  1847,  when  I  lectured  in  the 
large  room  in  Exeter  Hall,  that  the  seventh  vial  was  then 
either  suspended  or  pouring  out  in  the  air.  Every  thing 
gives  evidence  of  it.  Why,  all  over  the  world,  at  this  mo- 
ment, the  fruits  are  perishing ;  the  vines  are  gone  in  France 
and  in  other  parts ;  the  serial  crops  in  England  are  dam- 
aged ;  there  is  a  taint  in  the  air  that  no  one  can  explain,  no 
physician  can  alleviate.  The  pestilence  that  has  swept  the 
world  is  still  amongst  us ;  I  believe  it  will  come  again  and 
again.  All  these  things  are,  to  me,  the  clearest  evidence 
that  we  are  on  the  verge  of  stupendous  results ;  and  that 
some  may  be  here  who  shall  not  see  death  till  the  Lord 
come.  There  is  nothing  improbable,  still  less  impossible,  in 
this  supposition.  We  can  see,  too,  that  all  Europe  is  like  a 
volcano  at  the  present  moment.  You  recollect  that  I  told 
you  that  at  the  close  of  the  sixth  vial,  the  great  river 
Euphrates  should  begin  to  be  dried  up.  What  is  the  case 
now  ?  The  Turkish  empire,  of  which  that  river  is  the  sym- 
bol, from  1820  downward  to  the  present  moment,  has  been 
gradually  exhausting  itself.  I  scarcely  expect  that  Russia 
will  strike  it  down  by  a  blow.     It  is  God's  prophecy  that  it 


LUKE  XII.  235 

is  to  be  gradually  exhausted  ;  and  if  you  will  read  the  news- 
papers, which  I  always  think  the  be^t  commentators  upon 
prophecy,  you  will  find  that  peace  will  be  more  disastrous  to 
Turkey  than  war :  that  the  fanaticism  that  is  kindled  will 
consume  it  more  eflfectually  than  if  Russia  were  to  cannon- 
ade it,  and  destroy  it  by  an  exterminating  war.  It  being  so, 
we  see  that  the  extinction  of  that  empire  is  certain.  The 
crescent  will  wane,  the  river  Euphrates  will  be  dried  .up, 
And  then,  what  is  to  take  place  ?  The  kings  from  the  surf- 
rising,  the  ancient  Jews,  shall  set  their  faces  to  Jerusalem 
and  Sion-ward,  to  go  to  their  own  land,  unconverted,  to  build 
the  beautiful  temple  that  the  last  chapter  of  Ezekiel  de- 
scribes ;  and  there  and  then  to  see  Christ  revealed  to  them, 
and  to  look  upon  him  whom  they  have  pierced,  and  see  and 
believe  that  he  is  indeed  the  Messiah  —  the  Light  to  lighten 
the  Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  his  people  Israel.  Nearer 
every  day  comes  the  last  great  conflict,  prior  to  the  Millen- 
nium ;  for  which,  all  Europe  is  making  preparation.  Europe, 
at  this  moment,  is  a  volcano,  and  nations  stand  upon  the 
hardened  lava  in  dread  suspense ;  not  knowing  when  the 
mass  may  explode :  every  man  is  standing  with  his  hand 
upon  his  sword :  literally  and  truly,  the  hearts  of  kings,  and 
prime  ministers,  and  statesmen,  failing  them  for  fear  of  the 
things  that  are  coming  on  the  earth.  It  is  very  easy,  in  lead- 
ing articles  of  newspapers,  to  attack  statesmen ;  but,  depend 
upon  it,  statesmen  have  a  terrible  task.  Far  better  pray 
for  them,  that  they  may  be  so  guided  and  governed  by  the 
good  Spirit  of  God,  that  they  shall  do  their  utmost  to 
weaken  the  struggle  that  is  coming ;  and  to  hasten,  through 
the  truth,  the  peace  that  shall  rise  beautiful  and  glorious 
from  the  chaos,  like  a  rainbow  after  the  hurricane  and  the 
storm,  girdling  the  earth  with  its  beautiful  zone  —  the  com- 
mencement of  a  peace  that  never  shall  be  disturbed  again. 

What  a  world  is  this,  in  which  Christ's  advent  excites 
war.     One  would  think  the  first  ray  of  heaven  would  be 


236  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

hailed  hj  a  world  groping  in  the  darkness  of  sin.  It  shows 
that  the  carnal  heart  is  enmity  to  God. 

In  the  second  place,  Christianity  is  not  to  blame  for  the 
storms,  the  controversies,  and  the  battles  that  have  raged  in 
her  path.  Her  march  is  directly  to  peace,  and  if  her  foot- 
step startle  the  slumbering  passions  of  the  depraved,  it  is 
not  because  Christianity  is  controversial,  but  because  man- 
kind is  corrupt. 

We  see,  in  the  third  place,  how  clearly  Jesus  saw  the 
future  from  the  past.  He  predicted  what  would  be  the 
effect  of  his  Gospel ;  he  foresaw  the  trouble,  dispute,  and 
controversy,  that  would  take  place  before  peace  could  be 
established  on  the  earth. 

We  learn,  also,  another  lesson ;  that  truth  is  necessary  to 
peace.  There  can  be  no  peace  except  upon  the  foundation 
of  truth.  The  peace  that  you  have,  which  is  maintained 
without  truth,  is  a  quiet  that  will  soon  explode ;  not  a  peace 
that  will  survive  death,  and  judgment,  and  eternity.  Truth 
is  the  stem ;  peace  is  the  blossom  :  and  if  there  be  no  right 
stem,  there  can  be  no  beautiful  and  fragrant  blossom.  It 
may  be  ours  to  sow  the  seeds  of  truth,  and  to  water  them 
with  the  tears  of  weeping  eyes ;  and,  in  the  case  of  some, 
with  the  blood  of  warm  hearts ;  and  it  may  be  the  happiness 
of  others  to  reap  the  peace,  the  seeds  of  which  we  have 
painfully  and  laboriously  sown.  You  must  not  complain, 
that  one  soweth  and  another  reapeth.  Ours  may  be  the 
pain  and  toil  of  sowing ;  another's  may  be  the  privilege  of 
reaping ;  but,  at  the  last  day,  he  that  sowed,  and  they  that 
reaped,  shall  rejoice  together. 

In  the  next  place,  we  see  what  is  to  be  the  character  of 
this  present  dispensation  —  a  dispensation  where  conflict  is 
the  way  to  peace  ;  where  the  wisdom  that  is  from  above, 
must  be  first  pure,  before.it  can  be  peaceable. 

Do  you,  as  much  as  heth  in  you,  live  peaceably  with  all 
men?     Do  you  seek  peace?  and  if,  in  domg  so,  you  inci- 


LUKE   XII.  237 

den  tally  provoke  discord,  controversy,  dispute,  is  it  not  for 
dispute's  sake,  but  for  peace's  sake  ?  Napoleon  Avarred  for 
conquest ;  Wellington  warred  for  peace.  The  distinction  is 
important.  If  controversy  must  be  before  peace  can  be,  let 
us  not  shrink  from  it ;  but  let  us  not  love  it  for  its  own  sake. 
Peace  is  the  last  effect  of  the  Prince  of  Peace ;  and  if  we 
are  friends  of  him,  we  shall  seek  peace,  and  earnestly  ensue  it. 

Let  us  rejoice  in  the  blessed  thought,  that  this  Prince  of 
Peace  shall  reign  over  all  the  earth ;  that  the  prejudices 
and  the  passions  of  man,  like  the  waves  of  the  sea,  beneath 
his  holy  feet,  shall  be  calmed  ;  the  sword  shall  be  sheathed, 
division  healed,  and  peace,  the  ultimate  and  the  everlasting 
issue,  shall  prevail  over  all  the  earth. 

Now  our  Lord  further  explains  the  effect  of  this  by  stat- 
ing that  one  member  of  a  family  shall  be  set  in  opposition 
to  another ;  that  not  only  will  this  Gospel  preached  be  the 
occasion  of  division  in  the  midst  of  the  world,  but  it  will  be 
the  occasion  of  what  is  far  more  distressing  and  not  less  dis- 
astrous —  of  divisions  and  disputes  in  families.  He  takes 
the  family  circle,  and  he  says,  that  true  religion  introduced 
into  a  family,  heathen  in  itself,  unbelieving  in  fact,  Avill 
instantly  disturb  and  rend  and  split  that  family,  and  set  the 
son  against  the  father,  and  the  daughter  against  the  mother, 
and  the  daughter-in-law  against  the  mother-in-law.  Now 
how  does  it  do  so  ?  Just*  by  the  same  way  that  it  occasions 
division  when  it  comes  into  the  world.  The  natural  man 
hates  any  thing  that  reminds  him  of  God,  of  judgment,  of 
eternity.  The  man  who  has  made  uj)  his  mind  to  give  him- 
self wholly  to  the  world  does  not  like  to  be  disturbed  while 
he  does  so.  He  shuts  his  ears  and  his  eyes  too  from  heav- 
enly, spiritual,  and  future  impressions ;  and  enjoys  thus  an 
opiate  in  the  world,  very  different  in  its  nature,  and  still 
more  different  in  its  results,  from  the  peace  that  j)asseth 
understanding.  In  families  often  there  are  divisions  which 
are  inevitable.  As  members  of  a  family  grow  up,  they 
have  different   tastes,  embrace  different   professions,  form 


238  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

different  connections.  And  certain  divisions  in  a  family 
are,  therefore,  inevitable,  and  they  are  in  themselves  desir- 
able. But  when  religion  introduces  differences  into  a  fam- 
ily, then  those  differences  are  far  more  serious  —  some  of 
them  deeply  to  be  lamented.  Certainly  union  and  unity 
are  most  desirable  in  a  family.  They  have  wrongs,  and 
sorrows,  and  griefs,  and  weaknesses,  and  wants  that  need 
reciprocal  communion,  assistance,  strength.  And  it  is  a 
pity  that  a  section  of  the  human  race  so  small  should  be 
rent  and  torn  by  intestine  religious  feuds.  One  of  the  ends 
of  a  family,  too,  is  mutual  help  under  common  suffering,  in 
the  entertainment  of  common  hopes  and  in  the  enjoyment 
•of  common  blessings.  And  any  thing  that  disturbs  that 
union,  provided  that  disturbance  is  not  necessary  to  secure 
a  better  and  a  more  permanent  peace,  is  deeply  to  be  depre 
cated  :  and  where  religious  differences  are  merely  on  the 
surface,  and  do  not  touch  the  heart  of  religion,  but  only  its 
clothing,  they  are  absolutely  sinful ;  they  ought  to  be 
hushed  and  repressed  altogether,  or  taken  as  mere  ripples 
on  the  surface,  that  do  not  disturb  the  serene  and  placid 
depths  that  are  far  down  below.  But  when  you  see  per- 
sons in  a  family  fall  into  violent  and  furious  antagonism 
because  one  chooses  to  go  to  the  parish  church  and  another 
chooses  to  go  to  a  dissenting  chapel,  however  undesirable 
such  division  may  be,  yet  quarrels  about  it  are  not  rehgion, 
but  sectarianism,  which  is  quite  a  different,  nay  an  alto- 
gether distinct  thing  from  real  religion.  But  there  is  a  dif- 
ference in  families  which  is  produced  by  religion  —  not 
that  religion  necessarily  does  so,  but  that  religion  by  its 
introduction  becomes  the  occasion  of  such  disj)utes  and 
divisions.  One,  for  instance,  in  a  family  sees  the  folly  and 
vanity  of  temporal  things  ;  urges  attention  to  those  things 
upon  the  rest  of  that  family.  The  very  urging  religion 
upon  a  man  whose  heart  is  instinctively  hostile  to  it  will 
awake  all  the  passions  —  all  the  inveterate  passions  of  a 
carnal  and  corrupt  nature.     And  hence  in  a  family  when 


LUKE  XII.  239 

one  is  brought  to  feel  the  influence  of  this  religion,  and 
others  have  not  felt  it,  or  are  positively  opposed  to  it,  there 
Avill  be  two  of  conflicting  sentiments  under  the  same  roof. 
Whenever  contact  takes  place,  there  will  be  division  ;  and 
it  will  furnish  an  illustration  of  our  Lord's  prophecy,  that 
he  is  come  to  set  the  mother-in-law  against  the  daughter-in- 
law,  and  the  daughter-in-law  against  the  mother-in-law,  and 
the  son  against  the  father  —  to  send  division,  and  not  peace. 

Again,  if  you  will  look  at  the  effect  of  religion  introduced 
into  a  family,  still  further,  you  will  find  that  wdien  one  has 
come  under  the  influence  of  real,  evangelical,  and  living 
religion,  and  another  remains  under  the  influence  of  the 
world  that  lieth  in  sin,  they  go  in  opposite  directions.  One 
goes  to  the  playhouse,  and  the  other  goes  to  the  week  even- 
ing service.  One  goes  on  Sunday  to  the  house  of  God,  the 
other  stops  at  home  to  read  the  newspaper.  One  expresses 
grief  that  the*other  docs  not  attend  to  the  things  that  belong 
to  our  everlasting  peace ;  the  remonstrance  is  replied  to  by 
witticism,  by  sarcasm,  and  contempt.  Thus  division  is  in- 
troduced. A  worldly  man  Avould  say  it  is  the  effect  of  relig- 
ion ;  but  the  real  fact  is  that  it  is  the  eflfect  of  the  opposite 
of  rehgion.  All  was  perfectly  calm  as  long  as  the  strong 
man  held  his  property,  but  the  stronger  man  having  come 
in,  and  snatched  a  victim  from  his  fangs,  division  is  intro- 
duced ;  not  because  religion  creates  it,  but  because  religion, 
having  come  with  the  olive-branch  of  peace  in  its  hand,  irre- 
ligion  stands  up  and  resolves  to  wither  its  fairest  leaves  and 
'destroy  all  its  vitality. 

Again,  when  religion  is  introduced  into  a  family  you  will 
find  again  a  distinction  at  another  stage.  One  goes  to  the 
communion  table,  another  does  not  go.  That  may  not  be 
antagonism,  but  it  is  division ;  it  may  not  be  dispute,  but  it 
is  distinction  and  separation. 


CHAPTER    XIII 


SUDDEN    DEATH  —  INFERENCES     FBOM    SIN    AND     SUFFERING  —  DE- 
GREES OF  SUFFERING  NOT  ALWAYS  EVIDENCE  OF  SIN PATERNAL 

AND  PENAL  JUDGMENT  NOT  MAN's  PART REPENTANCE  AND  PEN- 
ANCE—  PRACTICAL  RELIGION  —  BARREN  FIG-TREE  — INFIRM  WO- 
MAN—  A  CARPING  ECCLESIASTIC  —  CURIOUS  QUESTIONS  RIGHTLY 
ANSWERED — FALSE  HOPES  —  LAST  FESTIVAL. 

The  two  severe  retributions  recorded  at  the  beginning  of 
tliis  chapter,  —  the  one,  the  blood  of  the  sacrificers  mingled 
with  the  blood  of  the  sacrifices ;  and  the  other,  eighteen  men 
crushed  below  the  falling  stones  and  ruins  of  the  tower  of 
Siloam,  —  were  repeated  to  our  Lord  by  the  same  hearers  ; 
who  in  all  probability,  made  the  comments  upon  it  that  they 
thought  justly  to  arise  from  these  severe  retributions.  They 
concluded,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  that  these  victims  were 
sinners,  signally  so,  above  all  the  sinners  that  were  in  the 
rest  of  Jerusalem,  because  they  had  been  so  signally  visited 
with  a  severe  and  deplorable  retribution.  Now  this  thought 
creeps  into  the  minds  of  all  when  Ave  hear  of  great  calamities. 
One  will  say.  Those  that  fell  very  lately  from  the  Crystal 
Palace,  and  were  killed,  must  surely  have  done  something 
wrong  to  be  overtaken  by  so  crushing  a  catastrophe ;  others 
will  say,  Those  that  have  been  struck  down  by  plague  or 
pestilence,  or  those  mowed  down  by  artillery  in  war,  or  those 
whose  city  has  been  laid  in  ruins,  and  their  property  con- 
signed to  their  conquerors,  —  surely,  if  peculiarly  punished, 
must  have  been  no  doubt  peculiarly  guilty.     Let  us  just  look 

(240) 


HIKE   XIII.  241 

at  such  reasoning,  wherever  it  may  appear,  and  see  how 
much  of  truth  there  is  in  it,  and  how  much  there  is  of  gross 
misapprehension. 

First  of  all,  our  Lord  corrects  their  reasoning,  and  teaches 
us  by  his  correction  of  it  that  we  do  not  always  in  spiritual 
things  reason  logically  from  just  and  true  elements.  Very 
many  construct  great  heresy  upon  the  ground  of  precious 
texts ;  Satan  could  quote  a  text,  and  reason  from  it ;  but 
when  you  analyze  his  reasoning,  you  will  find  a  lie  in  it. 
So  many  texts  have  been  wrenched  from  the  context,  and 
perverted  from  their  real  meaning.  For  instance,  there  is 
a  text,  "  The  time  is  short."  The  ascetic,  the  monk,  would 
say,  "  Therefore  let  us  mind  nothing ;  but  retreat  from  the 
world,  and  its  cares  and  trials,  and  give  ourselves  up  to  pen- 
itential suifering."  The  epicurean  would  say,  "  the  time  is 
short;  therefore  let  us  eat,  and  drink,  and  be  merry;  for  we 
must  soon  die."  But  the  Christian  who  is  inspired  by  grace 
says,  "  I  will  neither,  with  the  monk,  abandon  the  world,  lest 
I  fall  into  its  snares  ;  nor  with  the  suicide,  leave  life  because 
I  cannot  bear  its  burdens :  nor  will  I,  with  the  epicurean, 
the  sensualist,  and  the  worldling,  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry, 
and  forget  God ;  but  I  will  draw  far  more  just  conclusions 
from  this :  I  will  weep  as  though  I  wept  not ;  I  will  rejoice 
as  though  I  rejoiced  not ;  I  will  use  the  world  as  not  abusing 
it,  because  the  fashion  of  it  passeth  away." 

You  see,  then,  how  we  need  to  have  our  reasoning  cor- 
rected, as  our  Lord  corrects  their  reasoning  upon  this  occa- 
sion. 

!Now  in  what  they  said  in  thinking  that  these  Galileans 
were  sinners  above  all  —  which  evidently  was  their  thought 
—  there  were  certain  great  truths  in  their  conclusion,  as 
well  as  certain  great  falsehoods.  The  first  great  truth  in 
their  conclusion  was  this  —  that  suffering  is  the  result  of  sin. 
They  connected  suffering  most  justly  with  sin.  If  there  had 
never  been  sin  in  the  world,  never  had  a  single  creature, 

21 


242  scEirTUKE  headings. 

from  the  Imman  creation  dowmvard  to  the  lowest  reptile, 
have  known  what  pain  or  irnlFeriiig  is.  AVherever  there  is 
suffering,  there  you  have  the  rebound  of  sin.  Sin  and  suf- 
fering are  as  inseparable  as  mother  and  child,  as  sound  and 
echo,  as  body  and  shadow,  as  cause  and  effect.  In  hell, 
where  there  is  notliing  but  sin,  there  is  nothing  but  undi- 
luted suffering ;  in  heaven,  where  there  is  nothing  but  holi- 
ness, there  is  nothing  but  undiluted  and  progressive  happiness. 

Learn  again,  when  you  see  suffering,  not  to  blame  God 
for  it,  but  sin.  Where  you  see  health,  thank  God  for  it,  and 
do  not  take  the  credit  to  yourself:  but  if  a  calamity  has  come 
upon  you,  if  plague,  pestilence,  war,  it  is  not  so  much  God's 
hand,  as  it  is  man's  wickedness  —  either  the  primal  sin  in 
Paradise,  or  since  committed.  And  when,  on  the  other 
hand,-  you  have  sunshine  and  prosperity,  and  the  funds  not 
below,  but  above  par,  then  do  not  say  it  is  your  talent,  your 
tact,  your  management ;  this  prime  minister's  plan,  or  that 
financier's  skill ;  but  say,  "  This  is  God."  Try  more  to  as- 
sociate God  with  the  sunshine,  and  with  health  and  happi- 
ness ;  and  to  associate  sin  and  self  with  suffering  and  misery, 
that  you  may  be  humbled,  and  seek  pardon  and  forgiveness. 
They  did  right  in  associating  suffering  Avith  sin,  and  so  far 
our  Lord  commended  them. 

And  in  the  next  place,  they  did  right  in  saying  that  sin 
and  suffering  are  not  only  associated,  but  that  they  make 
manifest,  that  God  reigns.  God  is  in  the  world  —  ever  oper- 
ating, ever  starting  every  event  in  it ;  and  he  makes  known 
to  man  the  fact  that  sin  and  suffering  are  ever  connected 
•with  each  other.  And  they  were  right,  in  the  second  place, 
in  this  idea,  tliat  corresponding  degrees  of  sin  are  deserving 
of  corresponding  degrees  of  punishment.  The  whole  Bible 
.teaches  us  this,  that  he  that  hath  done'  many  sins  shall  be 
beaten  with  many  stripes,  but  that  he  that  hath  done  few 
shall  be  beaten  with  few  stripes.  It  shall  be  more  tolerable 
"for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  than  for  you,"  —  that  is, you  will 


LUKE   XIII.  243 

be  more  signally  punished  than  they.  Just  as  in  the  world 
of  bliss  there  are  successive  sunlit  table-lands  of  glory,  so  in 
the  world  of  misery  there  is  a  ceaseless  descent,  and  succes- 
sively descending-  ledges  of  misery  and  suffering  and  woe. 

These  three  parts,  therefore,  of  their  inferences,  were  per- 
fectly correct;  but  there  were  also  great  defects  in  their  in- 
ferences —  defects  so  palpable  that  our  Lord  said,  "  Suppose 
ye  that  these  Galileans  were  sinners  above  all  the  Galileans, 
because  they  suJffered  such  things  ?  I  tell  you.  Nay."  You 
are  utterly  mistaken.  While  there  is  truth  in  what  you  say, 
there  is  great  error  in  what  you  say. 

First  of  all,  they  judged  of  inner  personal  character  by 
outer  providential  visitations.  Now  this  is  contrary  to  all 
that  God's  word  commands,  warrants,  or  authorizes.  You 
are  not  to  judge  a  man  to  be  signally  sinful  because  he  has 
been  unsuccessful  in  business,  or  because  he  has  lost  his.  wife 
or  his  children,  or  his  property ;  you  are  not  to  say,  "  This 
man  thus  suffers  very  signally  because  this  man  has  been 
signally  guilty."  Job  was  an  unprecedented  sufferer,  yet  an 
illustrious  saint.  Abel  was  the  great  sufferer,  Cain  the  one 
that  lived  ;  yet  Cain  was  a  sinner,  and  Abel  was  a  saint. 
In  short,  it  is  not  by  their  sufferings  nor  by  their  prosperity, 
but  it  is  by  their  fruits  that  ye  shall  know  them.  You  are 
not  to  judge  of  what  men  are  by  what  they  experience  in 
Grod's  providential  economy,  but  you  are  to  judge  of  what 
they  are  by  hov/  they  feel,  and  speak,  and  think,  and  act,  and 
live  in  the  world.  In  fact,  you  are  to  reverse  the  process ; 
you  arc  to  judge  not  by  what  befalls  men  what  men  are  ;  but 
you  are  to  judge  of  what  befalls  them  by  what  men  are.  You 
are  not  to  reason  from  their  providential  sufferings  to  their 
moral  character;  but  you  are  to  reason  from  their  moral 
character  to  the  nature  of  their  providential  sufferings.  If 
they  be  good  men,  the  suffering  is  chastisement ;  if  they  be 
bad  men,  the  suffering  is  punishment.  But  not  certainly  are 
you  to  conclude  what  they  are  by  what  they  encounter ;  but 


244  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

you  are  to  construe  what  they  encounter  by  what  their  heart 
and  their  character  are.  This  was  the  first  defect  in  their 
reasoning. 

The  second  defect  in  their  reasoning  was,  that  they  judged 
that  so  sad  and  so  awful  a  catastrophe  must  have  been  the 
punishment  of  some  very  signal  and  very  marked  sin.  Now 
this  does  not  follow.  It  may  be  that  there  was  great  guilt 
in  those  that  perished,  but  it  may  be  that  there  was  guilt  as 
great,  if  not  greater,  in  those  that  remained.  God  does  not 
always  punish  by  cutting  down ;  he  sometimes  punishes  far 
more  severely  by  letting  alone ;  and  probably  Pharaoh  was 
more  punished  by  being  left  to  the  hardening  influence  of  his 
own  heart  than  if  he  had  been  cut  off  after  he  had  witnessed 
the  first  proof  of  God's  power,  and  perished  for  ever.  To 
leave  the  tree  blighted  and  withered  in  the  soil  may  be  as 
great  a  punishment  as  to  cut  down  the  tree  at  once  as  a 
cumberer  of  the  ground.  But  at  all  events  it  is  our  place 
to  leave  judgment  of  character  to  God,  and  to  take  home  to 
ourselves  the  personal  and  practical  duty  that  Jesus  enjoins, 
—  "  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."  When 
an  affliction  cOmes  —  be  it  war,  or  plague,  or  pestilence,  or 
famine,  or  earthquake  —  let  us  learn  from  it  our  common 
sinfulness ;  but  do  not  let  us  try  to  deduce  comparative  sin- 
fulness. Let  us  Jearn  from  it,  I  say,  our  common  sinfulness ; 
but  do  not  let  us  try  to  deduce  from  it  comparative  sinful- 
ness. 

In  the  next  place,  these  hearers  of  our  Lord  erred  in  this 
respect,  —  that  they  concluded  that  in  this  life  punishment  is 
meted  out  exactly  to  sin,  and  reward,  of  course,  meted  out 
exactly  to  righteousness.  Now  that  is  not  the  fact.  If  in 
this  world  sin  were  always  visited  with  its  just  penalty,  it 
would  not  be  a  day  of  grace,  it  would  be  a  day  of  judgment ; 
and  if  righteousness  were  always  visited  with  its  just  reward, 
it  would  be  heaven,  it  would  not  be  earth  at  all.  There  is 
in  this  world  enough  of  connection  between  sin  and  suffering 


LUKE   XIII.  245 

to  let  us  see  that  the  one  is  the  parent  of  the  other ;  and 
there  is  enough  of  confusion  to  make  us  long  for  the  jud<*-- 
ment-day,  when  all  shall  be  adjusted.  You  are  not  to  infer 
that  a  man  that  dies,  in  a  church  is  necessarily  saved ;  and 
you  may  not  conclude  that  a  man  that  dies  in  a  playhouse 
is  necessarily  lost.  Where  you  are  not  sure,  leave  retribu- 
tion to  God ;  take  home  personal  and  practical  responsibili- 
ties to  yourself —  "  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise 
perish." 

And  in  the  next  place,  these  hearers  -of  our  Lord  evi- 
dently erred  in  another  respect,  —  tiiey  concluded  that  suf- 
fering in  all  cases  is  necessarily  penal.  They  imagined  that 
the  falling  tower,  that  the  indiscriminate  slaughter,  were 
necessarily  penal.  It  may,  or  it  may  not  have  been  so ; 
but  they  assumed  that  it  always  and  everywhere  is  so. 
Now  that  does  not  follow.  One  man  may  suffer  for  years 
the  severest  pain  ;  another  man  may  suffer  not  so  acute  a 
pain.  In  the  former  case  it  may  be  a  Father's  chastise- 
ment ;  in  the  latter  it  may  be  a  Judge's  penal  mfliction.  We 
are  not  always  to  suppose  that  suffering  is  penal.  In  the 
case  of  Christians,  it  is  never  penal,  but  always  paternal: 
and  therefore  to  assume  that  where  there  is  jrreat  suffering: 
there  must  be  great  guilt,  is  not  always  safe  reasoning ;  be- 
cause it  very  often  happens  that  where  there  is  great  suffer- 
ing— it  seems  strange  to  us  — there  there  may  be  great 
love.  For  what  does  God  say  ?  "  Whom  the  Lord  loveth 
he  chasteneth."  And  you  remember  that  the  sisters  went  ■ 
to  Jesus,  and  said  to  him,  "  He  whom  thou  lovest  is  sick." 
That  seems  strange  language ;  but  they  might  have  made  it 
more  intense,  and  said,  "  He  is  sick  just  because  thou  lovest 
him."  If  then  it  be  true  that  great  suffering  in  this  world 
is  not  always  the  punishment  of  great  sin ;  if  it  be  true,  in 
the  second  place,  tliat  great  suffering  is  not  always  penal ; 
but,  in  the  case  of  true  Christians  always  paternal ;  then  we 
should  never  infer  that  those  who  are  the  victims  of  war,  of 
21* 


246  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

plague,  or  of  famine,  are  sinners  above  all  men.  The  mo- 
ment we  do  this  we  try  to  take  God's  place  and  judge,  instead 
of  taking  home  to  ourselves  the  dutiful  obligation,  "  Except 
ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."  The  fact  is,  we  are 
not  fit  to  be  judges  at  all;  the  less  we  judge  the  better. 
Speak  of  error,  and  what  error  leads  to ;  but  do  not  say  the 
errorist  is  lost  for  ever.  Speak  of  sin,  and  what  sin  leads  to, 
but  do  not  say,  "  Thou,  A,  or  B,  or  C,  the  sinner,  art  inev- 
itably lost."  The  fact  is,  it  is  our  place  to  kneel  at  the 
throne  of  grace  -and  pray  for  the  worst ;  it  is  God's  place 
to  mount  the  judgment  throne  and  pronounce  upon  all.  Let 
us  not  try  to  take  God's  place,  lest  we  lose  the  blessing  that 
belongs  to  our  own,  and  incur  the  woe  denounced  upon  him 
that  tries  to  take  from  God  his  glory,  but  finds  that  he  takes 
into  his  bosom  an  unexpected  curse. 

Let  us,  in  the  next  place,  see  this  other  lesson  to  which  I 
have  alluded  several  times  before,  that  we  are  always  so 
prone  to  see  God,  as  these  hearers  of  our  Lord  saw  him  in 
calamities,  but  not  to  see  God  in  blessings,  in  privileges, 
and  in  mercies.  It  is  a  strange  thing,  and  indicates  the 
shadow  of  our  primal  sin,  that  any  thing  terrible,  awful,  de- 
structive, we  associate  with  God ;  but  any  thing  prosperous 
and  happy  we  associate  too  much  with  ourselves.  "  It  has 
pleased  God  to  afflict  me,"  — "  It  has  pleased  God  to  de- 
prive me  of  a  relative,"  —  "  It  has  pleased  God  to  take  away 
my  property."  These  are  very  common  expressions;  and 
are  they  not  very  much  more  common  than  these,  —  "  It  has 
pleased  God  to  give  me  large  property,"  —  "  It  has  pleased 
God  to  keep  me  in  health  for  the  last  ten  years,  —  to  give 
me  many  blessings  ?  "  I  do  not  say  that  some  Christians  do 
not  so  speak ;  but  is  it  not  too  true  that  the  mass  of  mankind 
see  God  in  overwhelming  judgments,  and  therefore  think  of 
God  only  as  a  terrible  judge  and  exacter ;  and  they  see 
themselves  in  great  mercies,  and  therefore  think,  "  How 
good,  how  sagacious,  how  wise  are  we ! "     My  dear  friends, 


LUKE   XIII.  247 

let  us  learn  to  see  God  in  the  sunshine,  and  to  praise  him ; 
to  see  sin  and  self  in  the  shadow,  and  be  humbled  for  it. 
Nature  hears  the  voice  of  God  in  judgments  only,  because 
she  is  conscious  of  something  wrong  between  her  and  God ; 
grace  hears  God's  footfall  in  mercy  rather,  because  she  is 
reinstated  in  her  true  place  of  friendship  and  communion 
with  God. 

But  let  us  learn  this  lesson  from  the  whole  of  it,  and  a 
very  just  one  it  is  —  that  whether  we  perish  with  the  Gali- 
leans, whose  blood  was  mingled  with  the  blood  of  their  sac- 
rificial victims,  or  are  crushed  by  the  falling  tower  of  Siloam, 
or  fall  in  battle,  or  pine  in  disease,  or  die  in  our  beds,  it  is 
no  less  true  that  by  some  mode  or  another  I  must  escape 
from  this  living  organism,  this  earthly  habitation  in  which  I 
have  sojourned,  a  pilgrim  and  a  stranger  upon  earth.  "  All 
must  die,  is  an  aphorism  so  common  that  it  has  become. a 
proverb ;  but  alas !  so  common  that  men  think  all  men 
mortal  but  themselves.  If  then  it  be  true  that  we,  as  well 
as  the  eighteen  on  whom  the  tower  of  Siloam  fell,  must  also 
die,  have  we  ever  anticipated  that  event  —  not  dying,  but 
what  succeeds  it  ?  What  is  it  that  invests  death  with  its 
importance  ?  Simply  this  ;  it  is  the  fixture  of  the  soul  in  its 
everlasting  orbit  of  joy  or  of  sorrow,  of  happiness  or  of  mis- 
ery. It  is  the  closing  of  the  gate  that  shuts  out  all  the  un- 
sanctified,  and  lets  in  all  the  holy  and  the  happy.  Its  im- 
portance lies  there,  and  in  that  light  we  ought  to  look  at  it. 
He  that  is  unjust  at  his  death  is  unjust  for  ever.  Our  transit 
through  the  grave  does  not  transform  our  moral  character. 
All  that  death  does  is  to  fix  and  determine  and  make  per- 
manent for  ever  what  we  were  when  death  found  us.  The 
spring-tide  of  change  is  gone,  the  harvest  time  of  reaping 
what  we  have  become  has  now  commenced.  Except,  then, 
you  repent,  you  shall  not  only  perish,  as  all  do,  but  you  shall 
perish  for  ever. 

And  this  leads  me  to  ask.  What  is  repentance  ?     In  the 


248  scRirTURE  readings. 

K-oman  Catholic  version  of  the  Bible  it  is,  "  Except  ye  do 
penance,  ye  shall  all  perish."  "Well,  if  that  is  all,  it  is  very 
easily  done.  Nothing  is  more  easy  than  to  do  penance ; 
nothing  more  difficult  than  to  repent.  The  fact  is,  Roman- 
ism is  the  most  popular  religion  of  all.  It  is  a  religion  that 
so  suits  the  natural  man  that  he  vnll  join  it ;  but  it  is  so 
hateful  to  the  spiritual  man  that  he  shrinks  from  it.  I 
could  prevail  upon  any  young  man  living  in  the  practice  of 
any  known  sin,  to  go  from  London  to  Edinburgh  with  bare 
feet,  or  to  climb  the  loftiest  mountain  on  his  knees,  and  to 
come  back  again  and  get  absolution,  if  he  can  only  start 
afresh  in  his  sin,  rather  than  repent  in  the  sight  of  God. 
Man  will  suffer  any  thing  that  priest  can  invent,  if  you  will 
only  let  him  enjoy  the  darling  passion  ;  but  to  repent,  to  hate 
the  sin,  to  return  to  the  contrary  practice,  to  love  God,  and 
serve  and  honor  him  —  it  needs  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  to 
do  that.  It  is  easy  to  do  penance,  it  is  difficult  to  repent. 
It  is  easy  to  mortify  the  flesh  —  very  difficult  to  mortify  the 
lusts  of  the  flesh.  It  is  dehghtful  to  confess  to  a  sympathizing 
priest ;  it  is  a  very  different  thing  to  confess  to  God.  The 
former  is  very  popular,  very  easy ;  the  latter  is  repentance  — 
the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  In  other  words,  in  the 
one  religion  you  are  saved  by  what  youcan  do,  and  what  you 
are  to  do  is  so  accommodated  to  your  ftillen  and  corrupt  nature 
that  you  have  no  difficulty  in  doing  it ;  in  the  other  religion 
you  are  saved  by  grace  —  what  man  cannot  do,  what  the  Holy 
Spirit  alone  must  bestow.  Repentance,  therefore,  is  not  a 
physical  and  an  outward  work,  but  an  inner  and  moral  change 
of  heart,  of  life,  and  of  nature.  It  is  not  the  cause  of  faith, 
but  the  result  and  fruit  of  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  Repentance 
is  used  in  the  Bible  just  to  express  the  inner  revolution  of 
the  whole  man.  It  means  seeing  sin  as  you  never  saw  it 
before,  seeing  Christ  as  you  never  saw  him  before,  seeing 
God  as  you  never  saw  him  before ;  feeling  the  weight  and 
importance  of  eternal  things  as  you  never  did  before.     It  is 


LUKE   XIIT.  249 

a  comprehensive  word  for  saving  grace,  regeneration  of 
heart,  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Clirist,  and  entrance  into 
glory  through  your  connection  with  him.  To  repent,  there- 
fore, is  just  to  be  a  Christian  ;  and  that  is  produced  by  faith 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  will  enable  us  to  overcome 
every  thing  that  is  wrong,  and  to  engage  in.  every  work  that 
is  right,  and  to  serve  God  in  holiness  and  righteousness  all 
the   days  of  our  life. 

Have  we  repentance  ?  or,  translated  into  plainer  language, 
are  we  Christians  "i  Do  we  trust  in  the  Saviour  alone  for 
pardon  ?  Do  we  look  to  him  alone  for  access  to  God  ?  do 
we  see  God  no  more  a  Judge  condemning,  but  a  Father  lov- 
ing ;  no  more  a  King  exacting,  but  a  Father  ever  giving, 
ever  enriching  ?  Do  we  see  in  the  Bible,  not  a  dull  book, 
but  an  interesting  book  —  in  the  sanctuary  not  a  wearisome 
and  gloomy  place,  in  the  sermon  not  something  that  makes 
us  sleep  sound,  or  think  of  the  counting-house  we  have  left 
behind  us,  but  something  that  wakes  within  us  our  better 
life,  that  makes  us  more  joyful,  more  happy,  more  devoted, 
and  thanking  God  that  we  have  it  ?  Are  all  things  become 
new,  —  old  things  passed  away?  Do  we  hate  what  we  once 
loved  ?  do  we  love  Avhat  we  once  hated  ?  Are  we,  in  short, 
Christians  ?  Do  we  prefer  the  Bible  to  the  novel  ?  do  we 
prefer  the  sanctuary  to  the  playhouse?  Can  we  give  up 
the  chief  thing  that  we  love  to  God,  if  he  demands  it  ?  And 
can  we  engage  in  the  earnest  duty  that  devolves  upon  us 
because  God  bids  us  —  feeling  his  yoke  easy,  and  his  bur- 
den to  be  light?  If  so  you  have  seen  Christ;  he  has  looked 
upon  you;  he  is  exalted  to  give  repentance — "  they  shall 
look  upon  him  whom  they  have  pierced,  and  mourn." 
Happy  are  ye:  let  not  the  tower  of  Siloam  fall,  but  the 
pillars  of  the  universe  crash;  let  sky  and  earth  collapse; 
let  the  Czar  and  his  soldiers,  let  the  continent  with  all  its 
forces,  let  plague,  let  pestilence,  let  famine,  let  battle,  let 
murder,  let  even  death  overtake  us  —  they  cannot  strike 


250  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

that  which  is  myself.  They  may  break  open  the  casket, 
they  cannot  even  touch  the  precious  jewel  that  is  within. 
They  may  rend  the  tent,  but  it  will  only  let  the  inhabitant 
exchange  the  tent  for  a  shining  temple.  They  may  end 
this  life,  —  and  even  that  they  cannot  do  unless  God  permit, 
—  but  they  camiot  interrupt  my  entrance  into  heaven,  and 
my  enjoyment  of  those  pleasures  that  are  at  God's  right 
hand,  and  of  those  joys  that  are  ever  and  for  ever. 

The  great  thought  that  is  inculcated  here  is  a  very  obvious 
one  —  that  we  should  withdraw  our  speculations  about  the 
probable  fate  of  others,  and  concentrate  our  anxieties  and 
thoughts  upon  the  personal  safety  of  ourselves.  You 
must  often  have  noticed  in  reading  God's  holy  word,  how 
he  withdraws  men's  thoughts  from  mere  speculative  dis- 
cussions, that  can  end  in  no  practical  good,  and  brings  home 
and  fixes  those  thoughts  upon  personal  responsibilities,  of 
which  they  themselves  are  the  immediate  subjects.  And,  in 
order  to  illustrate  this  truth  that  he  taught  to  these  persons,  he 
recites  a  parable  of  a  fig-tree,  planted  in  a  vineyard ;  the 
owner  seeking  fruit,  and  finding  none  during  three  years' 
expectation,  and  at  the  end  disappointed.  Then  some  one 
interceding,  who  had  the  use  of  the  vineyard,  or  the 
possession  of  it,  asking  him  to  spare  it  another  year;  and 
if  it  should  bear  fruit,  well ;  if  not,  then  to  cut  it  down. 
The  fig-tree,  it  is  remarkable  enough,  is  used  in  Scripture 
almost  invariably  in  an  objectionable  sense;  the  vine  fre- 
quently used  in  a  good  sense  :  and  there  is  something  strange 
in  this  —  perhaps  we  need  light  to  explain  it  —  that  in  all 
nations,  with  the  exception  of  ourselves,  the  fig-ti-ee  has 
always  had  a  bad  sense.  For  instance,  the  very  name 
"sycophant,"  which  we  apply  to  a  person  that  flatters  in 
order  to  promote  his  own  purposes,  means,  literally  translated, 
"  a  person  that  shows  figs ; "  and  it  has  been  supposed  by 
some  of  the  Rabbis,  that  the  fig-tree  was  the  tree  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  that  .was  placed  in  the  midst 


LUKE    XIII.  251 

of  Paradise,  and  its  fruit  the  forbidden  fruit  of  ^vliicli  Adam 
and  Eve  ate.  And,  if  so,  of  course  it  would  contradict  the 
common  impression  that  it  was  the  apple-tree.  Not  that 
there  was  any  thing  in  the  fig,  or  in  the  fig-tree,  itself;  for 
God  might  have  said  to  Adam  and  Eve,  "  You  must  not 
touch  that  pebble,"  or  "  You  must  not  drink  of  that  stream." 
It  was  merely  an  outward  sign  of  their  allegiance  to  God ;  the 
breach  of  which  was  the  breach  of  their  allegiance  and 
loyalty  to  their  King.  It  is  a  very  miserable  apprehension 
that  infidels  continually  fling  at  Christians  when  they  say, 
How  could  it  be  that  eating  a  fig  or  eating  an  apple  could 
be  the  cause  of  all  the  misery  that  has  come  into  the  w^orld  ? 
The  true  secret  of  the  otTence  lay,  not  in  eating  a  thousand 
figs,  or  a  thousand  apples ;  but,  v/ithout  excuse,  without 
temptation,  violating  that  which  was  the  symbol  and  the  sign 
to  the  whole  universe,  that  God  was  Lord,  and  that  Adam 
and  Eve  were  his  creatures.  Whatever  the  thing  was,  the 
sin  was  in  the  violation  of  it :  and,  if  you  say.  It  is  a  veiy 
little  act ;  I  answer.  The  less  the  act,  the  less  excuse  for 
perpetrating  it.  There  is  less  excuse  for  stealing  a  pin  than, 
there  is  for  stealing  a  pound.  The  guilt  is  not  in  the  quantity 
of  the  thing  stolen  ;  the  guilt  lies  in  the  stealing  at  all ;  and 
the  less  the  temptation  —  or,  in  other  words,  the  less  the 
necessity  —  the  less  the  palliation  and  the  excuse  for  the 
offence. 

However,  this  is  departing  from  the  parable  which  is 
immediately  before  ns.  This  fig-tree,  then,  brought  forth 
no  fruit.  The  Ov/ner  of  the  garden  of  fig-trees  was  our 
blessed  Lord ;  and  not,  as  most  commentators  seem  to  have 
supposed,  God  the  Fatlier.  The  Intercessor  would  seem  to 
me  to  be  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  who  intercedes  within  the 
vineyard,  or  within  the  garden,  as  Christ  intercedes  outside. 
Tliis  is  only  in  keeping  with  what  is  stated  of  the  antedi- 
luvians. "My  Spirit  will  not  always  strive  with  man"  — 
taJdng  their  part,  pleading  with  them,  urging  them  to  obey 


252  SCRIPTURE     READINGS. 

Him  who  is  always  represented  as  the  great  Proprietor. 
And,  therefore,  I  would  rather  understand  that  our  Lord 
is  the  Owner  of  the  vineyard,  and  that  the  Dresser  of  the 
vineyard,  he  that  makes  it  fruitful,  and  gives  birth  to  blos- 
som and  to  fruit,  is  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God ;  and  that  Jesus, 
the  Great  Proprietor,  coming  and  asking  for  the  fruit  that 
may  be  expected  from  a  garden  so  watered  and  so  sunned, 
and  finding  none,  says,  "  Cut  it  down "  —  it  exhausts  the 
nutriment  that  is  in  the  earth,  and  prevents  other  trees  bear- 
ing fruit  and  blossom.  Then  one  within  —  not  outside  — 
intercedes,  and  says.  Spare  it  yet  another  year ;  I  will  dig 
about  the  roots,*  put  fresh  manure  round  about  it,  and  spare 
no  effort  to  make  it  fruitful ;  and  then,  if  after  this  it  should 
bear  no  fruit,  cut  it  down :  but  if  it  bear  fruit,  it  will  have 
had  another  year  of  mercy,  and  thou  wilt  have  in  the  end 
all  the  honor  and  the  glory. 

This  parable  teaches  us,  however,  that  wherever  Christ 
has  given  a  privilege,  there  he  justly  watches  for  the  fruit 
of  it.  He  is  not  an  unconcerned  spectator,  but  one  deeply 
interested  in  your  fruitfulness.  He  comes  one  year,  the 
second  year,  the  third  year,  still  waiting,  still  inquiring ;  and 
then,  when  there  is  still  failure,  he  issues  the  command, 
"  Cut  it  down  ;  "  and  the  heart,  like  Pharaoh's,  is  hardened  ; 
or,  the  soul,  like  the  rich  man  who  had  laid  up  much 
goods  for  many  days,  is  summoned  to  the  judgment-seat  of 
Christ. 

The  next  incident  is  that  of  a  woman  who  had  "  a  spirit 
of  infirmity  eighteen  years "  that  comes  to  him.  And  now 
you  will  notice  here,  that  the  cause  of  this  infirmity  is  ex- 
pressly said  by  our  Lord  to  be  Satan  —  "  Satan  hath  bound 
her  these  eighteen  years."  And  in  reading  the  Gospels, 
you  will  almost  invariably  find  Satan  represented  as  the 
author  of  disease,  of  misfortune,  of  calamity ;  and  Jesus  as 
the  great  Physician  that  heals  the  one,  or  the  great  Sin- 
Pardoner  that  forgives  the  other.     In  other  words,  we  are 


LUKE   XIII.  253 

taught  constantly  in  the  Bible  that  all  that  is  good  is  from 
God,  all  that  is  evil  is  from  the  creature ;  our  natural  state 
is  a  state  of  entire  suffering,  despair,  death,  misery.  "We  all 
have  the  idea  that  we  ought  to  be  healthy,  and  that  to  be 
healthy  is  our  natural  and  reasonable  condition.  But  it  is 
not  so,  for  the  instant  sin  entered,  that  instant  disorgayiza- 
tion,  disease,  death,  destruction,  became  our  normal  and  our 
natural  condition.  And  if,  therefore,  you  have  a  single 
day's  health,  if  you  have  a  single  week's  sunshine,  you  are 
to  attribute  the  last  to  God,  Avho  restrains  the  disease  that 
would  otherwise  destroy  you,  and  gives  you  the  blessing 
that  you  forfeited,  but  that  in  his  grace  he  bestows.  You 
are  to  see  sin  in  all  the  ills  and  evils  that  overtake  you ;  and 
you  are  to  see  God  in  all  the  blessings  and  the  benefits  that 
descend  upon  you.  Do  not  always,  as  most  men  do,  asso- 
ciate God  with  all  that  is  calamitous  in  your  lives,  and  asso- 
ciate yourselves  with  all  that  is  good  and  prosperous  in  your 
lives ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  give  God  all  the  glory  of  the 
good  and  happiness  that  overtakes  you,  take  to  yourselves 
all  the  shame  and  the  sin  of  all  the  misfortunes  and  all  the 
sorrows  that  overwhelm  you.  "When  Jesus  cured  this 
woman,  then  Ave  find  that  a  carping  and  cavilling  ecclesias- 
tic —  called  in  those  days  a  Pharisee  ;  that  would  be  called 
in  the  present  day  a  high-churchman  —  objected  that  he 
had  broken  in  upon  the  rubric,  in  venturing  to  cure  a 
woman  who  had  been  eighteen  years  ill,  because  it  hap- 
pened to  be  the  Sabbath  day.  ISTow  he  objected,  not  that 
he  really  loved  the  Sabbath  more,  but  that  he  hated  Jesus, 
and  was  anxious  to  find  some  pretext  for  accusing  him  to 
the  governor  of  the  country,  or  bringing  him  in  guilty  of  a 
breach  of  the  laws  of  the  country.  But  our  Lord's  reply 
was  most  striking,  like  all  his  replies.  I  have  often  felt  in 
reading  this  Gospel,  that  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  He, 
the  subject  of  them,  belonged  to  that  age,  or  was  part  and 
parcel  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived  at  all. 
22 


254  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

We  are  ?o  accu.-tomcd  to  tiiis  Gospel,  and  our  own  posi- 
tion is  so  niucli  brought  up  towards  it,  though  still  far  below 
it,  that  we  do  not  see  the  prodigious  contrast  between  what 
this  book  contains  and  any  thing  that  existed  1850  years 
ago.  It  is  not  comparison ;  it  is  absolute  contrast.  And,  if 
Jesus  was  not  God,  the  four  Gospels  are  four  of  the  most 
stupendous  miracles  that  ever  were  wrought  in  the  world. 
Jesus  replied  to  him  very  strikingly  :  "  Thou  hypocrite." 
Now  this  is  not  a  precedent  for  us.  If  I  could  search  a 
man's  heart,  and  see  that  he  was  a  pretender,  I  should  be 
justified  in  telling  him  just  what  he  is ;  and  in  doing  so,  I 
should  do  much  better  than  some,  who  do  not  tell  you  to 
your  face  what  you  are,  but  inform  others  behind  your  back. 
It  is  one  thing  to  say  to  a  brother,  "  You  are  so  and  so  "  - — 
this  may  be  Christian,  if  you  are  quite  sure  of  it ;  but  it  is 
a  totally  different  thing  to  tell  others  behind  his  back  that 
he  is  so.  But  our  blessed  Lord  tells  him  to  his  face  that  he 
was  a  hypocrite,  because  he  had  the  omniscient  eye  that 
penetrated  into  the  hidden  recesses  of  his  heart,  and  saw 
what  was  there ;  and  therefore  he  said,  "  Thou  hypocrite," 
you  profess  to  honor  the  Sabbath  day,  whilst  you  really 
wish  to  injure  me.  Your  language  and  your  thoughts  are 
not  in  unison.  A  hypocrite  means  a  person  who  wears  a 
mask ;  literally  translated  it  is  "  a  play  actor."  And  you 
know  that  a  very  common  man  upon  the  stage  assumes  one 
to  be  a  king,  another  to  be  something  else  ;  he  wears  a 
mask  that  looks  like  royalty,  while  underneath  that  mask 
there  is  concealed  a  face  as  far  removed  from  royalty  as 
plebeianism  can  possibly  make  it.  Well  now,  that  phrase,  a 
man  wearing  a  mask,  or  a  hypocrite,  applied  to  moral  char- 
acter, means  a  person  covering  the  heart,  which  is  his  real 
character,  with  a  countenance  which  represents  a  false  and 
assumed  character.  It  doe^  not  need  a  mask  of  pasteboard 
to  conceal  character ;  the  countenance  can  itself  be  twisted 
into  any  shape  men   please.      It   may  express  friendslup 


LUKE  XIII.  255 

when  hostility  may  be  hirking  underneath.  Now,  our  Lord 
says  to  this  Pharisee,  "  Thou  hypocrite  "  —  thou  pretender  — 
you  say  that  I  have  broicen  the  Sabbath :  well  now,  if  you 
yourself  would  go  and  give  a  bucket  of  water  to  the  ass  or 
to  the  ox  in  the  stall  on  the  Sabbath  day,  because  a  work  of 
necessity,  do  you  mean  to  say  that  I  am  not  to  restore  to 
health  a  human  being,  and  more  than  that,  an  immortal 
being ;  and  to  minister,  not  only  to  a  sufferer,  but  to  a 
daughter  of  Abraham,  one  in  covenant  with  God  ?  Do  you 
mean  to  say  that  if  you  would  relieve  an  ox,  you  would  not 
relieve  a  human  being,  —  a  Christian  ?  Therefore  out  of 
your  own  mouth  I  condemn  you.  When  this  proud  eccle- 
siastic heard  this  eloquent  rebuke,  he  was  silent ;  but  the 
common  people  rejoiced  at  all  the  glorious  things  that  were 
done.  What  a  sad  fact  it  is,  how  painful  is  it  to  one's 
mind,  that  the  ecclesiastics  of  the  day  —  the  priests,  the 
presbyters,  or  whatever  you  like  to  call  them  —  opposed 
Jesus ;  while  the  common  people  on  one  occasion  heard  him 
gladly,  and  the  rest  of  the  people,  on  other  occasions,  re- 
joiced at  those  things  that  he  said.  It  is  a  fact  in  the  his- 
tory of  Christianity  that  almost  all  —  and  this  is  a  thing  you 
ought  not  to  forget ;  and  I  speak  very  advisedly  —  the 
errors  that  have  been  introduced  into  the  Christian  church 
have  come  from  the  presbyters,  or  the  bishops,  or  the  minis- 
ters of  Christianity,  or  ecclesiastics ;  and  that  when  the 
whole  priesthood  has  become  degraded,  the  mass  of  the 
people  have  continued  more  or  less  orthodox  and  Christian. 
I  fear  far  more  the  domination  of  the  priest  than  I  fear  the 
domination  of  the  people.  Not  that  there  is  any  infallible 
guarantee  in  priest  or  in  people ;  but  in  the  presence  of 
Him  who  has  promised  to  be  with  his  people  to  the  end  of 
the  world,  and  to  give  them  all  things  whatsoever  they 
need. 

After  thus  rebuking  the  Pharisee,  he  likens  the  kingdom 
of  God,  that  is,  the  Christian  church,  to  two  different  things ; 


256  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

first,  a  mustard  seed  planted,  and  groAving  u\)  into  a  large 
tree,  and  birds  resting  on  it ;  secondly,  to  leaven  cast  into 
meal,  fermenting,  or  saturating  the  Avhole  mass  with  its  in- 
fluence. The  first  parable  is  the  outer  progress  of  the 
church,  where  it  becomes  outwardly  great,  and  men  find 
shelter  in  it ;  the  second  parable  is  the  inner  life  of  the 
church,  where  it  has  a  truth  deposited  in  its  heart,  and 
becomes  saturated  with  it. 

One  then  came  to  him,  Avhile  he  was  preaching  in  the 
cities,  and  said,  "  Lord,  are  there  few  that  be  saved  ? " 
What  a  strange  question  to  ask  !  and  yet  it  is  a  question 
that  frequently  occurs  to  us.  We  do  not  like  to  conclude 
that  a  great  majority  will  be  lost ;  we  are  sometimes  anx- 
ious to  know  how  many  will  be  saved ;  and  like  this  man, 
we  ask,  if  not  in  words,  at  least  in  anxious  thought,  the 
question.  Now  mark  our  Lord's  reply  :  he  did  not  say, 
"  There  are  few  ;  "  nor  did  he  say,  "  There  are  many  ;  " 
but  he  substantially  said,  "  This  can  do  you  no  good  ;  it  is  a 
mere  matter  of  curious  inquiry :  instead  of  troubling  your 
mind  about  a  question  that  can  make  you  no  wiser,  no  hap- 
pier, no  holier,  take  upon  you  a  personal  and  instant  duty  ; 
strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate."  It  is  another  illustra- 
tion of  a  striking  feature  in  the  teaching  of  our  Lord,  that 
he  withdraws  the  mind  from  every  curious  and  wandering 
speculation,  and  fixes  it  upon  present  and  upon  lasting  du- 
ties. And  I  must  notice  here,  what  I  am  sure  you  must 
have  seen  in  reading  the  Bible,  how  much  there  is  in  it  to 
sanctify,  how  much  to  comfort,  how  mucli  to  strengthen,  but 
how  little  to  gratify  an  anxious  and  an  itching  curiosity. 
Now  if  I  wanted  to  make  a  book  extremely  popular,  what 
would  I  do  ?  I  would  try  to  gratify  the  curiosity  of  man- 
kind ;  and  if  I  wanted  to  write  a  book  extremely  unpopular, 
I  would  try  to  sanctify  the  hearts,  and  correct  the  sins  and 
the  vices,  of  mankind.  It  is  a  striking  trait  in  our  fallen 
nature  that  we  are  more  curious  to  know  an  interestinoj 


LUKE  xiir.  257 

speculation  than  we  are  anxious  to  feel  the  force  of  a  sanc- 
tifying and  saving  truth. 

Our  Lord  then  tells  them  that  the  reason  why  they  should 
strive  is  just  this  ;  that  a  day  will  come  when  the  gate  will 
be  shut.  That  does  not  mean  that  the  gate  is  shut  this  day 
to  any  one  that  wishes  to  enter  in  ;  but  that  a  day  will 
come  —  either  by  your  death,  or  by  the  advent  of  the  Lord 
and  the  close  of  this  dispensation,  when  that  gate,  now  so 
wide  that  the  greatest  sinner  may  enter,  and  yet  so  narrow 
that  the  least  sin  cannot  be  admitted  with  him,  will  be 
closed  ;  and  then,  when  the  gate  is  closed,  you  may  knock 
as  long  as  you  like ;  the  day  of  grace  is  ended,  the  day  of 
judgment  is  begun  ;  you  must  remain  outside  for  ever,  there 
can  be  no  more  access  to  the  presence  of  God.  If  you 
should  make  it  a  reason  for  entering,  "  We  have  eaten  and 
drunk  in  thy  presence,  and  thou  hast  taught  in  our  streets  " 
—  that  is  to  say,  translated  into  modern  language  —  "  We 
have  been  regularly  baptized ; "  or,  as  some  may  say,  "  We 
have  been  sprinkled  in  infancy,  and  immersed  in  adult  life  ; " 
or,  as  others  might  say,  "  We  have  been  baptized  by  one 
who  had  the  true  and  legitimate  apostolical  succession : " 
"  We  have  been  regarded  as  most  consistent  churchmen  ; " 
or  "  We  have  been  most  decided  dissenters  ;  we  have  been 
numbered  with  the  congregation  ;  "  or,  "  We  have  minis- 
tered to  the  wants  of  the  poor,  —  are  we  to  be  cast  out  ?  " 
The  answer  is,  The  evidence  of  grace  is  not  connection 
with  a  church,  or  conforming  to  a  mere  outward  ceremony ; 
but  doing  justly,  loving  mercy,  walking  humbly  with  God. 
"  Depart  from  me,  ye  workers  of  iniquity :  I  never  knew 
you." 

And  then  he  describes  the  last  festival  that  shall  be.  He 
says,  "And  they  shall  come  from  the  east,  and  from  the 
west,  and  from  the  north,  and  from  the  south,  and  shall  sit 
down  in  the  kingdom  of  God  ; "  or,  as  it  is  in  another  Gos- 
pel, "  sit  down  with  Abraham,  ai>d  Isaac,  and  Jacob  ;  "  and 


258  SCllIPTUUE    UKADIXGS. 

as  it  is  also  said  here,  in  the  previous  verse,  "  Ye  shall  see 
Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  all  the  prophets,  in  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  you  yourselves  thrust  out."  Now  here 
we  have  evidence  of  recognition  in  the  age  to  come.  The 
beings  on  the  left  of  the  judgment-seat  will  recognize  upon 
the  right  hand  the  beings  who  are  saved.  "  Ye  shall  see 
Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob."  And  so  I  believe,  in  the 
holy  and  happy  realms  that  are  to  be  entered  after  death 
before  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  that  we  shall  recognize 
each  other.  I  could  not  only  recognize  men  by  their  out- 
ward countenances,  which  of  course  are  expressive  enough ; 
but  I  could  know  certain  individuals  if  their  countenance 
was  hidden,  by  their  peculiarity  of  taste,  their  peculiarity  of 
temperament,  their  way  of  thinking,  their  association  of 
ideas  —  all  that  constitutes  that  peculiar  idiosyncrasy  which 
every  individual  has,  and  of  which  he  cannot  divest  himself. 
But  then,  when  this  body,  or  the  tent  in  which  I  live,  shall 
be  struck,  my  soul,  that  is  myself,  does  not  die.  I  have 
often  told  you  that  that  which  I  see  is  not  you,  and  that  that 
which  you  see  is  not  I.  If  my  body  were  placed  in  the 
tomb,  I  do  not  die,  I  do  not  cease  to  be,  my  recollections,  my 
associations,  my  love,  my  joys,  my  hopes,  my  sympathies, 
my  feelings,  myself — that  which  constitutes  myself,  my  soul, 
is  immortal  and  lasting  for  ever  and  ever.  "When  Ave  lay 
aside  those  tents  or  tabernacles  in  which  we  are  now  living, 
and  enter  into  the  realms  of  glory,  can  I  suppose  that  a 
person  with  whom  I  have  been  associated  in  life,  with  whom 
I  have  taken  sweet  counsel,  who  has  conversed  with  me, 
and  reciprocated  my  joys,  my  sorrows,  my  fears,  my  hopes 
—  that  I  shall  not  recognize  that  person  ?  Is  memory  to  be 
destroyed  in  heaven  —  is  the  future  to  be  a  blank  —  will  all 
mankind  be  staring  on  vacancy  ?  Let  us  take  care  lest  we 
so  etherialize  the  future  that  we  fail  to  recollect  that  it  is 
not  a  place  where  each  is  in  his  niche,  like  an  idol  in  the 
Pantheon,  separate  and  alone.    Let  us  recollect  that  heaven 


LUKE   XIII.  259 

is  not  a  hermitage,  nor  a  monk's  cell,  but  the  company  and 
converse  of  the  blessed ;  where  we  shall  rejoice  together, 
and  celebrate  the  praises  of  Him  who  hath  kept  us  from 
falling,  and  presented  us  before  his  presence  in  glory.  I 
believe,  therefore,  that  in  heaven  before  the  resurrection 
there  will  be  perfect  recognition  of  each  other ;  and  if  at  the 
resurrection  we  ^yerQ  to  get  new  bodies,  then  recognition 
might  not  be  possible,  —  I  might  fail  to  recognize  a  brother 
in  a  new  body ;  but  it  is  not  new  bodies  that  we  are  to  have, 
but  these  very  bodies.  We  do  not  need,  in  order  to  be  glori- 
fied, a  new  body,  altogether  new,  constructed  from  the  earth  ; 
this  veiy  body  that  fell  and  was  reduced  to  dust,  shall  be 
raised  and  reconstructed  in  more  than  its  pristine  glory  and 
beauty ;  and  the  very  features  that  we  now  recognize,  we 
shall  recognize  then  as  the  features  of  a  brother. 

After  this  we  read  that  some  came  to  him  and  said,  "  Herod 
will  kill  thee  "  —  a  mere  attempt  to  awake  his  fear.  Our 
blessed  Lord  perhaps  then  used  the  only  severe  expression 
which  is  recorded  of  him  in  the  Gospels  :  —  "  Go  ye,  and 
tell  that  fox,"  —  yet  that  simply  means,  "  tell  that  cunning 
person,  that  astute  and  cunning  person,"  —  "  I  do  cures  to- 
day and  to-morrow,  and  the  third  day  I  shall  be  perfected  " 
—  after  I  have  done  all  that  devolves  upon  me  to  do,  then  I 
shall  be  complete.  He  then  turns  round  and  says,  "  It  can- 
not be  that  a  prophet  perish  out  of  Jerusalem."  And  then 
the  most  touching,  the  most  penetrating  appeal  was  made  to 
Jerusalem:  —  "O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  which  killest  the 
prophets,  and  stonest  them  that  are  sent  unto  thee ;  how 
often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  as  a  hen 
doth  gather  her  brood  under  her  wings"  —  what  a  beautiful 
simile !  how  exquisitely  poetical !  how  fitted  to  suggest  every 
touching  recollection  !  —  "  and  ye  would  not !  Behold,  your 
house  is  left  unto  you  desolate  "  —  so  it  is  :  the  most  desolate 
land  in  all  the  world  at  this  moment,  having  any  inhabitants 
in  it,  is  Palestine ;  and  though  the  signs  of  its  returning  vi- 


260  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

tality  are  multiplying  on  every  hand,  yet  it  will  remain  des- 
olate until  the  Jew  in  it,  on  it,  in  the  midst  of  the  temple  he 
will  seek  to  raise  in  order  to  carry  on  his  economy,  shall  see 
above  it  and  beyond  it,  and  recognize  Jesus  as  blessed,  and 
say,  "  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David ! " 


Note  —  [28,  29.]  The  verses  occur  here  in  a  different  connection : 
"  Ye  Jews,  who  neglect  the  earnest  endeavour  to  enter  now,  sliall  weep 
and  gnash  your  teeth  when  ye  sec  all  the  saints,  Jews  and  Gentiles,  in 
the  kingdom  of  God,  and  yourselves  excluded."  (See  chap.  xvi.  23.) 
In  these  two  verses  is  the  real  answer  to  the  question  of  verse  23  given  : 
"they  shall  be  many  —  but  what  is  that  to  you,  if  you  be  not  among 
them  ? " 

[30.]  As  the  words  here  stand  —  somewhat  different  from  those  Matt. 
XX.  16  —  they  seem  to  be  a  prophetic  declaration  of  what  shall  be  in 
the  course  of  the  ingathering  of  these  guests: — viz.  that  some  who 
were  the  first  or  among  the  first  to  believe,  shall  fall  from  their  high 
place,  and  vice  versa.  This  former  has,  as  Stier  notices,  (iii.  200,) 
been  remarkably  the  case  with  the  Oriental  churches,  which  were  the 
first  founded  and  flourishing ;  and  we  may  add,  with  the  mother  church 
of  Jerusalem,  which  has  declined,  while  her  Gentile  offsets  have  flour- 
ished. — Alford. 


CHAPTER    XIY. 


PIXIXG  OX  THE   SABBATH  DAY  —  HEALING  ON   SABBATH   DAT — PAR- 
ABLE   SOCIAL     ENTERTAINMENTS FESTIVAL     AND     GUESTS 

UNITY    IN    ERROR    AND    EVIL  —  EXCUSES — RELATIVE   DUTIES  — 
SALT  —  LIGHTS  —  LOSS  OF  CHARACTER. 

The  expression  used  in  the  opening  part  of  the  chapter, 
"  the  chief  Pharisees,"  is  not  the  correct  rendering  of  the 
original  word,  which  means  strictly  and  properly  the  Phar- 
isees that  were  rulers  in  the  midst  of  the  synagogue,  or  ex- 
ercised jurisdiction  and  authority  there. 

Some  have  asked,  Why  did  Jesus  on  the  Sunday,  as  we 
should  call  the  day,  or  the  Sabbath  day,  as  it  was  called  then, 
accept  an  invitation  to  dine  with  a  powerful  and  a  proud 
ecclesinstic,  when,  as  we  should  think,  such  invitations  should 
not  be  given  that  day  ?  I  answer,  Jesus  had  no  home  of 
his  own  ;  he  availed  himself  of  every  avenue  to  good ;  he 
lost  no  opportunity  of  doing  what  Avas  beneficent  wherevei 
those  opportunities  offered.  It  is  no  more  sinful  to  dine  on 
the  Sabbath  day  than  it  is  upon  the  weekday.  It  is  sinful 
to  go  to  a  party  on  the  Sabbath  day ;  but  if  you  go  to  the 
house  of  a  friend  upon  that  day  after  duty  of  any  sort,  or  to 
accept  of  his  hospitality,  and  therein  to  advance  directly  or 
indirectly  the  things  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  then  to  dine 
with  a  friend  on  the  Sabbatli  day  may  be  a  Christian  duty, 
and  not  necessarily  a  profane  and  worldly  thing. 

In  the  next  place,  we  read  that  whilst  he  was  thus  dining, 

(261) 


262  SCRIPTURE    READIXGS. 

one  came  in  who  had  a  diseas;e  incurable  by  human  skill. 
Jesus  seeing  him,  and  knowing  the  habits  and  customs  of  the 
Pharisees,  who  made  the  Sabbath  not  a  day  beautiful  and 
welcome,  but  a  day  of  irreligious  austerity ;  a  penance,  not 
a  privilege;  a  pain,  not  a  pleasure, — knowing  their  per- 
version of  a  divine  institution,  their  real  desecration  of  it, 
their  seeming  rigid  consecration  of  it,  —  said,  "  Is  it  lawful 
to  h'-al  on  the  Sabbath  day  ?  "  —  if  to  heal  the  body,  to  heal 
the  soul  is  no  less  an  act  of  beneficence ;  that  is  always 
seasonable  —  no,  it  is  always  duty  where  you  have  the  power 
and  the  ability  to  do  it.  And  they  could  not  answer  him. 
If  he  had  asked  some  ceremonial  question,  they  could  have 
answered  him.  They  could  not  say  No ;  because  that  would 
have  been  to  assert  tliat  cruelty  and  unkindness  were  in 
their  theology  canonized :  they  dared  not  say  Yes ;  for  that 
would  have  condemned  their  own  practices ;  and  therefore 
they  were  silent.  Jesus  at  once  solves  the  ditficulty,  answers 
his  own  question  by  restoring  the  sick  man  to  perfect  health  ; 
and  then  he  says  to  them.  If  you  have  an  ox,  and  if  that  ox 
falls  into  a  pit,  and  cannot  get  out,  and  must  there  perish  if 
left  alone,  would  it  be  sin  to  take  the  ox  out  of  the  pit,  even 
if  it  should  be  the  Sabbath  day?  If  this  be  so,  a  fortiori^ 
to  drive  disease  out  of  a  body  that  it  brings  to  destruction, 
to  heal  a  sick  man,  and  to  rescue  him  from  the  jaws  of  death, 
cannot  be  less,  it  must,  if  possible,  be  more  a  present  duty. 
"  And  they  could  not  answer  him  again  to  these  things." 

He  then  put  forth  what  is  called  "  a  parable,"  but  which 
was  really  a  sort  of  illustration,  — "  to  those  which  were 
bidden,  when  he  marked  how  they  chose  out  the  chief  rooms, 
saying  unto  them.  When  thou  art  bidden  of  any  man  to  a 
wedding  "  feast^  not  to  a  wedding  merely,  but  to  a  wedding 
feast,  "  sit  not  down  in  the  highest  room,  lest  a  more  hon- 
orable man  than  thou  be  bidden."  There  is  underlying  this 
rebuke  the  fact  that  one  ought  to  observe  the  courtesies  of 
social  life.     Jesus  recognizes   here   social   and  deferential 


LUKE   XIV.  263 

precedence.  He  says  to  those  tluit  Avere  bidden,  Do  not  as 
you  Pharisees  in  your  ecclesiastical  pride  do,  seize  upon  the 
loftiest  and  the  most  honorable  place;  and  do  not  —  for  he 
teaches  that  as  well  —  go  down  into  an  exceedingly  low  place, 
for  there  is  an  affectation  of  humility  that  is  really  the  worst 
and  most  intolerable  pride  of  all ;  but  take  that  place  which 
seems  fairly  and  justly  to  belong  to  you  ;  neither  going 
higher  nor  descending  lower ;  and  the  master  of  the  fSast 
will  always  take  care  that  you  shall  occupy  or  be  seated  in 
that  place  which  becomes  your  position,  your  dignity,  and 
your  relationship  in  social  life.  Now  these  Pharisees  always 
chose  the  loftiest  places,  and  Jesus  gives  this  parable  iu 
order  to  rebuke  that  ecclesiastical  pride  which  supposes 
nothing  more  exalted  than  itself,  and  which  looks  u^^on  every 
place  beneath  it  as  fit  only  for  the  laity,  or  those  that  were 
not  invested  with  the  same  dignified  privileges.  And  then 
Jesus  tells  them,  "  Whoever  exalteth  himself,"  as  you  Phar- 
isees do,  "  shall  be  abased ;  and  he  that  humbleth  himself 
shall  be  exalted." 

He  next  illustrates  another  great  truth  by  another  beauti- 
ful parable.  Before  doing  so,  however,  he  says,  "  When 
thou  makest  a  dinner  or  a  supper,  call  not  thy  friends,  nor 
thy  brethren,  neither  thy  kinsmen,  nor  thy  rich  neighbors, 
lest  they  also  bid  thee  again,  and  a  recompense  be  made 
thee.  But  when  thou  makest  a  feast,  call  the  poor,  the 
maimed,  the  lame,  the  blind."  Does  this  forbid  hospitality  ? 
Does  it  forbid  entertaining  friends?  His  own  practice 
shows  that  it  does  not.  If  it  did  forbid  it,  his  own  practice 
would  be  the  refutation  of  his  own  prescription.  Our  blessed 
Lord  very  often  speaks  absolutely,  as  it  seems  to  us,  when 
really  he  speaks  relatively.  For  instance,  he  says,  "  Labor 
not  for  the  bread  that  perisheth,  but  for  that  which  endureth 
unto  eternal  life."  He  does  not  mean  that  a  man  should 
not  labor  for  his  bread ;  but  evidently,  "  Labor  less  for  the 
bread  that  perisheth  ;  more  for  that  which  endures  unto  eter- 


264  scRirrr.RK  readings. 

nal  life."  So  again  in  this  chapter,  "  If  any  man  come  to 
me,  and  hate  not  his  father  and  his  mother."  He  does  not 
mean  that  a  Christian  is  to  indulge  in  a  breach  of  the  fifth 
commandment :  but  tliat  if  any  man  come  to  him,  and  love 
him  not  more  than  his  fatlier  and  mother,  and  sister  and 
brother,  he  cannot  be  his  disciple.  So  when  he  says  here, 
"  When  thou  makest  a  dinner,  call  not  thy  friends ; "  he  is 
evidently  speaking  relatively.  lie  says.  If  you  wish  recom- 
pense, as  you  Pharisees  do ;  for  you  give  entertainments 
that  you  may  get  others  in  return  ;  you  give  dinners  in 
order  that  you  may  gain  power,  and  advance  yourselves  in 
the  synagogue  and  in  the  temple  ;  —  well,  if  you  really  want 
a  substantial  reward,  Avortliy  of  the  name,  do  not  give  din- 
ners to  your  rich  friends,  who  can  give  dinners  to  you  ;  but 
if  a  reward  be  your  object,  call  the  poor,  and  the  blind,  and 
the  maimed ;  and  then  you  will  get  a  recompense  in  the 
resurrection  of  the  just,  because  you  cannot  have  a  recom- 
pense from  these  —  the  maimed,  the  poor,  and  the  blind, — 
whom  you  have  invited  to  your  festival.  The  meaning, 
therefore,  is,  that  all  hospitality  shown  to  your  equals  should 
be  postponed  to  beneficence  shown  to  tlie  ])Oor.  The  obli- 
gations that  you  owe  to  the  naked  and  the  hungry  sliould 
take  precedence  of  tlie  liospitality  that  you  give  to  the  rich, 
the  great,  and  those  that  are  your  friends,  and  brethren,  or 
equals  in  social  life.  Be  hospitable,  but  still  more,  be  gen- 
erous ;  entertain  your  friends,  but  still  more,  feed  the  hun- 
gry, clothe  the  naked,  and  relieve  those  that  are  in  distress. 
Our  Lord  adds  also  a  parable  illustrative  of  the  nature  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  "A  certain  man  made  a  gi-eat 
supper,  and  bade  many,  and  sent  his  servant  at  supper  time 
to  say  to  them  that  were  bidden.  Come  for  all  things  are  noAV 
ready."  The  whole  of  this  parable  is  illustrative  of  the  Gos- 
pel ;  and  the  successive  invitations  issued,  first  by  prophets, 
next  by  the  Baptist,  then  by  our  Lord,  and  lastly  by  the 
apostles  and  evangelists,  onward  to  the  end  of  the  world. 


LUKE    XIV.  265 

Christianity  with  all  its  blessings,  is  compared  to  a  feast  of 
rich  things.  "  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the 
waters,  and  he  that  hath  no  money  ;  come  ye,  buy  and  eat ; 
yea,  come,  buy  wine  and  milk  without  money  and  w^ithout 
price.  Wherefore  do  ye  spend  money  for  that  which  is  not 
bread  ?  and  your  labor  for  that  which  satisfieth  not  ?  "  So 
here,  he  likens  the  Gospel  to  a  feast,  a  provision  for  the 
soul,  corresponding,  only  on  a  higher  level,  to  a  provision 
made  for  the  taste,  the 'appetites,  and  the  pleasures  of  the 
body. 

He  sent  his  servant  then,  and  he  told,  not  a  few,  elect ; 
but  the  01  TToXkol,  the  great  mass  of  mankind.  The  invitation 
of  the  Gospel  is,  in  its  first  aspect,  directly  addressed  not  to 
man  as  a  Christian,  or  to  man  as  elect,  but  to  man  simply  as 
a  sinner.  Jesus  came  into  the  world,  not  to  save  the  elect, 
but  to  save  sinners ;  and  you  are  to  apply  to  him  for  accept- 
ance, not  on  the  ground  of  your  election,  which  you  cannot 
discover,  but  on  the  ground  of  your  guilt,  which  in  your 
conscience  you  feel  to  be  real. 

He  bade  this  servant  say,  "  Come,  for  all  things  are  now 
ready."  Now  what  is  the  Gospel?  Not  something  that 
you  bring  in  exchange  for  something  that  you  get ;  not  a 
contribution  on  the  part  of  the  invited  to  the  festival  of 
which  they  are  invited  to  partake ;  but  it  is  coming  hungry, 
just  as  you  are,  to  eat  of  a  festival  to  which  you  contribute 
nothing,  but  from  which  you  get  all  that  is  good,  and  nour- 
ishing, and  healthy.  "  Come,  for  all  things  are  ready." 
The  Gospel  is  not  something  that  you  are  to  elaborate,  but 
something  that  you  are  to  accept ;  not  something  that  you 
are  to  do,  but  something  that  you  are  simply  to  take :  and  I 
believe  that  thousands  stumble  at  the  threshold  of  Christian- 
ity by  a  latent  and  lurking  idea  that  they  must  do  something, 
or  lay  aside  something,  before  they  close  with  its  beneficent 
and  its  blessed  overtures.  Whereas  the  very  essence  of  it 
is,  that  just  as  the  worst  sinner  is,  he  is  to  come  to  Jesus  as 
23 


266  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Jesus  is,  and  to  receive  freely  pardon  of  all  the  sins  that  are 
past,  and  grace  to  sanctity  him  for  all  the  duties  that  are  to 
come. 

"  All  things  are  now  ready."  A  perfect  sacrifice,  a  per- 
fect righteousness,  a  willing  Father,  a  waiting  Saviour,  a 
mighty  Spirit  —  all  things  requisite  are  prepared,  and  noth- 
ing remains  to  be  done,  but  all  are  prepared  for  you,  and 
waiting  for  your  acceptance. 

One  would  have  thought  that,  in\^ted  to  such  a  feast,  no- 
body would  ever  have  dreamed  of  refusing  ;  one  would  have 
thought  that  all  would  have  been  anxious  to  show  respect  to 
a  friend  who  invited  them  to  partake  of  so  rich  and  generous 
a  festival,  especially  as  this  festival  was  a  royal  one.  But 
strange  enough,  "  the}^  all  with  one  consent  began  to  make 
excuse."  It  is  so  with  reference  to  the  Gospel ;  men  make 
excuses  for  not  being  Christians.  The  very  fact  that  any 
person  makes  an  excuse  for  not  being  a  Christian,  implies 
that  he  thinks  there  is  something  in  Christianity  that  is  very 
nauseous,  something  in  religion  that  is  very  painful,  and  that 
he  would  naturally  rather  be  rid  of,  if  decently  and  conven- 
iently he  could.  But  it  is  all  the  other  way  ;  when  you  hes- 
itate, you  offer  an  excuse  for  not  being  happy ;  you  make  an 
excuse  for  refusing  to  have  peace ;  you  get  up  reasons  for 
hesitating  to  be  a  son  of  God  instead  of  being  an  heir  of 
wrath  and  of  hopeless  and  irretrievable  misery.  One  would 
think  that  everybody  that  hears  the  Gospel  would,  like 
Abraham,  leap  for  joy  when  he  hears  it,  and  be  too  ready 
to  welcome  it.  But  it  is  just  the  other  way.  The  Gospel 
invites  you,  and  you  all  make  excuse  for  rejecting  it,  and 
standing  aside. 

And  we  have  here  a  very  remarkable  instance  of  another 
kind.  "  They  all  began  with  one  consent  to  make  excuse." 
Now  you  know  the  Church  of  Rome  says  that  one  of  the 
grand  proofs  of  a  true  church  is  unity.  But  here  is  unity 
on  the  part  of  those  that  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  Gos- 


LUKE    XIV. 


W 


pel.  There  is  a  unity  that  is  conspiracy,  as  well  as  a  unity 
that  is  Christian  concord.  You  may  with  one  consent  reject 
the  Gospel,  as  well  as  with  one  consent  accept  it.  The 
mere  fact  of  being  united  in  a*  transaction  does  not  prove 
that  transaction  to  be  good,  or  the  parties  combined  to  be 
personally  holy.  When  unity  is  associated  with  truth,  it  is 
beautiful ;  but  when  associated  with  sin,  it  is  conspiracy  and 
condemnation,  not  the  concord  of  the  Gospel. 

Notice  now  the  three  excuses  they  made.  The  first  was 
the  excuse  of  the  agriculturist ;  the  second  the  excuse  of  the 
tradesman,  or  of  the  merchant ;  and  the  third  the  excuse  of 
the  father,  or  the  husband,  or  the  domestic  excuse. 

The  first  said,  "  I  have  bought  a  piece  of  ground,  and  I 
must  needs  go  and  see  it :  I  pray  thee  have  me  excused." 
Now  this  was  a  lie,  no  question  about  it ;  and  like  all  lies,  it 
needs  but  to  be  looked  at  in  order  to  see  that  h  is  so.  Is  it 
likely  that  a  sagacious  man,  whose  heart  seems  to  have  been 
wholly  in  the  world,  would  have  bought  a  piece  of  land 
without  first  looking  at  it  ?  And  yet  he  says  that  he  had 
bought  a  piece  of  land,  and  that  he  must  go  to  see  it; 
whereas  he  must  have  seen  it  before,  and  measured  it,  and 
estimated  its  productive  powers,  and  given  a  price,  you  may 
depend  upon  it,  not  larger  than,  per  acre,  it  would  fetch  in 
any  market  at  that  day. 

The  second  said,  "  I  have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen,  and 
I  go  to  prove  them  ;  I  pray  thee  have  me  excused."  Can 
you  suppose  that  any  man  would  buy  an  ox  that  he  never 
saw,  that  he  knew  nothing  of,  whose  strength  he  had  never 
tested?  It  was  just  a  falsehood;  it  was  a  pretext;  and 
when  men  want  an  excuse,  it  is,  alas!  too  common  —  for 
not  doing  what  they  ought  to  do  —  to  invent  excuses  Avhere 
they  do  not  really  exist. 

And  the  third  said,  "  I  have  married  a  wife,"  —  and  he 
did  not  say  why  that  should  be  a  pretext,  as  if  that  would 
be  obvious  to  every  one,  — "  and  therefore  I  cannot  come." 


9fi8  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Well,  if  he  had  married  a  wife,  he  could  have  brought  his 
wife  with  him.  But  if  the  objector  had  married  a  Avife  who 
differed  from  him  in  vital  things,  he  ought  not  to  have  mar- 
ried such  a  wife.  In  either  case  the  excuse  was  merely  a 
pretext.  These  three  excuses  are  all  clearly  absurd,  and 
only  seemed  to  those  who  made  them  strong  and  proper, 
because  they  did  not  like  the  feast  to  which  they  were  in- 
vited. 

The  servant,  we  read,  when  he  heard  all  this,  "  came  and 
showed  his' lord  these  things,"  that  is,  his  master,  not  "lord." 
"  Then  the  master  of  the  house  being  angry,  said  to  his  ser- 
vant, Go  out  quickly  into  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city, 
and  bring  in  hither  the  poor,  and  the  maimed,  and  the  halt, 
and  the  blind : "  that  is,  "  bring  any  that  you  can  find.  I 
have  asked  those  whom  I  thought  ought  to  come,  and  to 
whom  it  Avould  be  a  treat  to  come  ;  they  have  declined  the 
invitation ;  I  cannot  have  the  feast  ready  without  guests  to 
eat  it ;  therefore  descend  into  a  lower  stratum.  Leave 
those  in  aristocratic  life,  and  go  down  to  those  lower  strata 
that  are  in  every  great  and  populous  capital  —  go  and  bring 
them."  "And  the  servant  said.  Lord,  it  is  done  as  thou 
hast  commanded,  and  yet  there  is  room,"  —  room  for  plenty 
more.  Then  what  did  he  say  ?  "  Go  out  into  the  higliways 
and  hedges,  and  compel  them  to  come  in."  Does  this  mean, 
force  them  whether  they  like  it  or  not  ?  This  is  quoted  by 
a  very  distinguished  Romish  controversialist  as  a  proof  of  the 
Inquisition,  the  treatment  of  the  Madiais,  or  the  imprison- 
ment of  Miss  Cunninghame,  not  merely  being  according  to 
Romish  law,  but  also  most  scriptural,  because  it  says  in  this 
passage,  "  Compel  them  to  come  in."  But  just  look  at  the 
merits  of  the  case.  Here  was  one  solitary  servant  com- 
manded by  his  master  to  go  out  into  the  highways  and 
hedges,  where  the  gypsies,  and  thieves,  and  beggars  consorted, 
and  to  compel  them  to  come  in.  Now,  if  physical  force  was 
meant  here,  how  could  one  single  servant  compel  them  to 


LUKE   XIV.  269 

come  in  by  the  dozen  ?  The  thing  confutes  itself.  How 
can  a  single  domestic  compel  thieves,  and  beggars,  and  high- 
waymen, and  robbers  to  come  in  by  force?  It  is  obvious 
it  was  not  force;  and  therefore  the  meaning  of  the  word 
must  be  persuasion.  Use  such  arguments  as  are  holy,  and 
proper,  and  just,  —  persuade  them  to  come  in,  induce  them 
to  come  in.  And  how  very  solemn  is  this  passage  that  is 
added :  "  For  I  say  unto  you;  That  none  of  those  men  which 
were  bidden  shall  taste  of  my  supper." 

And  then  he  draws  the  conclusion :  "  If  any  man  come 
to  me,  and  hate  not  his  father  and  mother,  he  cannot  be  my 
disciple  ; "  that  is,  "  if  he  love  his  father  or  mother  more 
than  me,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple."  If  the  order  of  a 
parent  clearly  and  unmistakably  come  into  collision,  not 
with  the  order  of  a  priest,  but  with  the  command  of  God  in. 
his  holy  word,  then  you  are  to  postpone  the  command  of  the 
parent  to  the  command  of  God.  The  duty  that  you  owe  to 
the  lower  must  be  laid  aside,  when  brought  into  opposition 
to  the  duty  that  you  owe  to  the  higher.  But  a  very  great 
mistake  is  often  made.  Ecclesiastics  say,  "  This  is  right ; " 
a  priest  or  a  prelate  says,  "  That  is  your  duty ; "  and  very 
often  young  persons  say,  "  Very  well,  then  I  must  renounce 
the  duty  that  I  owe  to  my  parents,  and  obey  the  command 
of  my  ecclesiastical  superior."  That  is  not  the  text,  nor  is 
it  duty.  I  would  obey  my  parent  a  thousand  times  before 
the  command  of  priest,  or  prelate,  or  cardinal,  or  pope. 
But  it  is  when  a  duty  is  clearly  indicated  in  the  Bible  —  so 
clearly  indicated  that  there  can  be  no  mistake,  misapprehen- 
sion, or  misconception  about  it  —  and  that  duty  runs  cross  to 
what  you  owe  a  parent,  as  expressed  by  parental  command, 
you  are  to  have  no  hesitation  in  postponing  obedience  to 
the  earthly  parent  to  that  higher  and  loftier  allegiance  that 
you  owe  to  the  Great.  Parent  of  us  all. 

He  says,  in  the  next  place,  that  you  ought  to  be  like  salt ; 
for  he  says,  "  salt  is  good  ;  but  if  the  salt  have  lost  his  savor, 
23* 


270  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Avlierewith  shall  it  be  seasoned  ?  "  Some  have  cavilled  at 
this,  and  they  say  that  salt  cannot  lose  its  savor.  There 
are  two  explanations  ;  either  of  them  is  good ;  the  last,  I 
think,  is  the  best.  Some  say  the  salt  referred  to  is  an  aro- 
matic salt,  something  like  ammonia,  and  when  all  its  flavor 
and  its  pungent  properties  have  evaporated,  then  it  is  of  no 
more  use  ;  it  has  lost  the  only  value  for  which  it  was  kept. 
Others,  however,  think,  and  in  nuy  opinion  with  much  more 
probability,  that  this  is  the  common  salt,  or  that  combination 
of  muriatic  acid  and  soda  which  constitutes  what  we  call 
cuhnary  salt,  or  what  chemists  call  "  muriate  of  soda."  Now, 
they  say  that  salt  cannot  lose  its  savor.  But  there  are 
instances ;  and,  I  believe,  it  is  said  by  a  traveller,  that  he 
saw  near  the  Dead  Sea  unmense  masses  of  muriate  of  soda 
that  had  lost  its  peculiar  property ;  or,  as  expressed  here, 
salt  that  had  lost  its  savor.  Our  Lord  says.  Ye  are  the 
lights  of  the  world ;  if  you  cease  to  be  luminous,  you  are 
worthless :  ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth ;  if  you  part  with 
your  savor,  or  fail  to  extend  your  beneficent  influence  to 
those  that  are  around  you,  you  are  like  the  salt  that  has 
lost  its  peculiar  and  characteristic  savor ;  it  is  not  fit  to  be 
used,  for  it  has  lost  the  property  that  made  it  valuable ;  it 
is  not  fit  for  manure,  for  it  has  lost  its  peculiar  adaptation  for 
it ;  it  is  only  fit  to  be  cast  out,  and  trodden  under  the  feet 
of  men.  So  is  it  with  those  that  profess  the  truth,  but  have 
it  not ;  that  seem  to  be  salt,  but  have  no  savor ;  that  live 
for  themselves,  and  not  for  God,  and  for  the  benefit  of  all 
mankind. 


CHAPTER    XIV.    18. 

APOLOGIES — SPIRITUAL  TASTE — THEY  THAT  ARE  WELL — MISTAKEN 
FEARS  —  INCONSISTENCIES  —  WANT  OF  TIME  —  INABILITY — PRO- 
CRASTINATION. 

It  seems  strange  that  persons  invited  to  a  festival,  which 
was  one  of  the  most  joyous  in  ancient  or  in  eastern  times, 
should  feel  it  their  duty  or  their  disposition  to  get  up  excuses 
for  stopping  away.  One  would  think  that  the  treat  would 
have  been  so  great  to  the  multitude  —  bread,  and  a  wedding 
raiment,  and  wine,  and  all  the  good  things  that  might  be 
provided  by  the  master  of  a  great  house  and  a  large  estate  — 
that  every  one  invited  to  be  present,  and  participate  of  the 
feast,  would  have  rejoiced  in  the  opportunity,  and  thankfully 
have  availed  himself  of  it.  But  it  is  said  of  this  festival, 
made  by  an  eai-thly  lord,  meant  to  represent  a  higher  festival 
made  by  a  Heavenly  One,  that  they  all,  with  unanimity 
most  •remarkable,  with  singular  unity  of  mind,  feeling,  pur- 
pose, and  practice,  began  to  make  excuse.  Now,  our  Lord 
says  that  the  blessings  provided  in  the  Gospel,  described  in 
the  Bible,  arranged  by  the  Spirit,  purchased  by  Christ  him- 
self, are  to  the  soul  precisely  what  the  richest  provision 
spread  upon  an  earthly  table  is  to  the  most  exquisite  or 
fastidious  taste ;  that  is,  perfect  and  complete  gratification. 
Then  how  is  it,  if  the  feast  be  so  pleasant,  that  the  people 
invited  to  the  earthly  one  excused  themselves?  Or  how 
is  it  now  that  such  a  blessing,  provided  in  the  Gospel,  freely 

(271) 


272  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

offered  to  all,  to  which  all  are  invited,  is  so  regarded  by 
men  that  they  still  (for  our  Lord  uses  the  parable  to  repre- 
sent the  practices  of  men  still)  excuse  themselves — begin  with 
one  consent  to  make  excuse  ?  The  real  reason  is  just  this,  that 
our  earthly  taste  is  not  so  vitiated  by  the  fall  that  it  ciinnot  be 
delighted  with  a  feast  or  a  festival  fitted  to  gratify  it ;  but 
our  spiritual  taste  is  so  vitiated  by  the  original  fall,  and  the 
influence  of  that  fall  projecting  still  its  shadow  over  us,  that 
it  is  not  pleased  with  what  once  pleased  it ;  it  is  not  delighted 
with  what  once  delighted  it.  The  carnal  heart  is  enmity  to 
God,  and  to  all  that  bears  the  stamp,  the  character,  and  the 
likeness  of  God ;  and  therefore  we  do  not  like  spiritual 
things,  however  choice,  because  it  needs  a  new  taste,  a  new 
nature,  raised  to  the  level  of  the  new  and  blessed  provision, 
in  order  that  we  may  thankfully  and  delightedly  enjoy  them. 
The  reason,  therefore,  of  the  excuse,  is  no  doubt  radically 
in  the  heart.  The  heart  is  wrong,  and  therefore,  it  likes 
not  what  is  right.  The  spiritual  taste  is  vitiated,  therefore 
it  is  not  refreshed  by  what  once  refreshed  it. 

But  there  are  specific  reasons  why  men  make  excuse  for 
not  embracing  and  accej^ting  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel, 
that  may  be  worthy  of  a  moment's  consideration.  Some 
have  the  idea  that  however  good  these  things  may  be,  how- 
ever good  religion  may  be,  however  excellent  the  Saviour 
may  be,  they  really  do  not  need  it,  that  they  are  well  enough 
as  they  are,  and  they  want  to  let  well  alone ;  that  there  is 
really  nothing  that  they  require  done  for  them ;  they  are 
good  members  of  society  ;  they  owe  no  man  any  thing ;  they 
have  paid  all  their  debts ;  they  have  good  hearts,  if  they 
have  not  very  great  minds ;  and,  therefore,  they  cannot  see 
why  they  should  trouble  themselves  about  this  visitant  from 
heaven  called  Christianity,  demanding  supremacy  over  their 
hearts,  and  offering  to  them  that  like  it  a  rich  treat,  called 
in  Scripture  "  a  feast  of  fat  things."  Now,  as  long,  then, 
if  we  are  satisfied  with  ourselves,  of  course  we  shall  never 


LUKE   XIV.  273 

think  of  going  out  of  ourselves  to  seek  satisfaction  elsewhere. 
The  well,  the  whole  do  not  need  a  physician,  and  they  do 
not  seek  after  one ;  they  do  not  trouble  themselves  about 
the  existence  of  such  a  character ;  they  are  quite  well,  they 
do  not  want  him.  But  when  they  are  sick  and  need  a 
physician,  they  begin  to  make  inquiry  after  liim.  So,  the 
moment  that  you  begin  to  be  convinced  of  sin,  and  to  feel 
that  you  are  ahenated  from  God,  your  whole  disposition  is 
altered ;  you  can  see  that  there  is  not  in  yourself  that  which 
will  satisfy,  that  there  is  not  in  your  own  life  that  which 
will  bear  the  ordeal  through  which  you  must  pass  at  a  judg- 
ment-seat. You  feel  a  hunger  that  nothing  earthly  can  re- 
move, a  thirst  that  earth's  cisterns  cannot  satisfy.  Then 
you  hear  the  invitation,  "  Come," — the  poor,  the  maim,  the 
halt,  the  blind,  the  hungry,  the  thirsty,  the  naked,  (spiritually 
so,)  are  all  invited  to  come.  Hungry,  then,  you  will  come 
where  bread  is ;  naked,  you  will  come  where  raiment  may 
be  found ;  feeling  dissatisfaction  within,  you  will  respond  to 
the  invitation,  and  go  to  that  festival  where  the  peace  that 
passeth  understandmg  is  freely  given,  and  may  by  you  be 
fully  realized. 

There  is  another  reason  why  some  do  not  accept  religion. 
I  am  speaking  of  coming  to  the  feast  as  equivalent  to  ac- 
cepting Christianity  —  I  use  a  very  comprehensive  phrase — 
accepting  Christianity,  believing  on  Christ,  desiring  to  attain 
what  this  book  calls  the  full  stature  of  a  perfect  man  in 
Christ  Jesus. 

Now  the  feeling  of  some,  and  a  reason  why  they  stand 
aloof  from  Christianity,  wliy  they  do  not  decide  as  they  are 
here  invited  to  decide,  is  this.  They  think  that  if  they  be- 
come Christians,  if  they  should  make  a  profession  of  religion, 
above  all,  if  they  should  come  to  the  Lord's  table,  then,  fare- 
well to  all  their  joys  and  their  pleasures,  all  the  bright  and 
sunny  things  of  this  world,  —  they  must  give  them  all  uj) ; 
and  that  to  become  Cliristians  is  very  much  in  their  estimate 


274  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

to  become  monks ;  to  embrace  Christianity  is  equivalent 
very  much  in  their  minds  to  going  into  a  convent.  They 
think  that  the  least  enjoyment  in  this  world  is  incompatible 
with  the  full  supremacy  of  the  things  of  the  world  to  come. 
It  is  not  so ;  Christianity  forbids  no  joy  upon  earth  that  is 
not  sin ;  and  joys  that  are  not  sinful  it  limits,  it  does  not 
banish.  It  insists  that  there  shall  not  be  the  excessive  en- 
joyment of  this  world ;  but  it  permits  the  lawful  use  and 
enjoyment  of  every  happiness  of  every  kind  that  is  in  itself 
right  in  the  sight  of  God.  It  extinguishes  no  lights  that  are 
lighted  from  on  hif»:h ;  it  casts  no  shadow  where  there  is 
otherwise  sunshine ;  it  only  takes  that  which  is  deceiving, 
that  which  ultimately  must  pain,  and  lifts  your  affections, 
your  sympathies,  your  hopes  to  a  purer  realm,  to  nobler 
objects — a  house  not  made  with  hands,  and  happiness  that 
is  a  fountain  ever  full  and  ever  liowing,  instead  of  being  a 
broken  cistern,  that  can  hold  no  water.  And  the  best  way 
to  put  it  to  the  test  is  this  :  do  you  find  that  Christian  people 
are  more  sorrowful,  more  gloomy,  more  melancholy  than 
worldly  people  ?  I  venture  to  say  that,  if  you  could  now 
see  laid  bare  the  thoughts  of  a  Christian  who  has  returned 
from  a  communion  sabbath  to  the  world  on  Monday,  and 
the  thoughts  of  the  worldling  who  has  returned  from  the 
opera  at  one  or  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  on  Tuesday,  or 
any  other  morning  in  the  week  ;  if  you  could  see  the  thoughts 
of  the  one  after  his  attendance  in  the  sanctuary,  and  the 
thoughts  of  the  other  after  his  or  her  enjoyment  in  the  opera, 
you  would  find  that  the  remains  of  the  feelings  kindled  at 
the  opera  are  misery,  a  sense  of  disquietude  and  want,  that 
must  take  another  evening  at  the  opera  to  remove,  or  some 
other  indulgence  or  excitement  to  propitiate  ;  but  in  the 
case  of  the  other  there  will  be  perfect  peace  —  the  calm 
equator  of  Christian  feeling  —  resulting  from  communion 
with  God,  from  obedience  to  his  will,  from  reliance  on  the 
provisions  of  his  grace,  and  from  confidence  in  his  govern- 


LUKE   XIV.  275 

ment  of  the  heart,  of  the  world,  and  of  mankind.  In  otlier 
words,  you  will  find  the  pleasures  of  the  world,  even  when 
they  may  be  blameless,  like  the  crackling  thorns  ;  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  truth,  the  pleasures  of  peace,  the  pleasures  of 
Christianity,  are  like  the  shining  light  that  shineth  more 
and  more  to  the  perfect  day.  I  do  not  speak  of  pleasures 
that  are  positively  sinful  contrasted  with  pleasures  that  are 
positively  Christian;  but  pleasures  that  are  worldly  com- 
pared with  the  enjoyments  that  are  positively  Christian ;  I 
assert  the  latter  are  weighty  and  real,  the  former  unsatis- 
factory, and  often  irritant.  And  you  do  not  find,  therefore, 
that  a  Christian  is  a  more  gloomy  man  than  the  worldling  ; 
you  do  not  find  that  a  man  who  goes  to  his  church  regularly 
on  a  Sunday,  reads  his  Bible,  and  lives  accordingly,  is  more 
miserable  than  the  man  that  lives  w^holly  to  make  money, 
never  opens  a  Bible,  or  spends  his  Sunday  in  the  Crystal 
Palace,  or  in  reading  the  newspaper.  You  do  not  find  that 
a  Christian  is  more  gloomy  than  a  worldling,  but  the  very 
reverse  :  and,  therefore,  I  allege  that  your  acceptance  of  the 
truth,  your  profession  of  it,  your  full  acquiescence  in  it,  will 
not  make  you  more  unhappy,  but  less  unhappy.  It  would 
be  strange  if  it  were  otherwise.  Could  we  expect  that  God 
will  give  in  this  life  all  the  unhappiness  to  his  friends,  and 
all  the  enjoyment  to  his  enemies  ?  We  cannot  expect  such 
a  thing;  we  must  expect  —  no,  we  are  sure  —  that  to  his 
friends  he  will  increase  their  joy,  and  to  those  that  are  his 
enemies  there  can  be  no  real  joy,  or  even  peace  at  all,  but 
trouble,  and  grief,  and  anxiety,  and  sense  of  want  that  can- 
not be  removed. 

But  another  reason  why  some  refuse  to  accept  the  truth, 
and  to  profess  the  Gospel,  (I  do  not  say  a  real  reason,  but 
an  alleged  reason,)  is  the  inconsistency  of  those  that  profess 
Christianity.  Ask  the  worldly  man,  a  sceptic,  or  one  that 
rejects  the  Bible,  "  Why  do  you  not  accept  the  Bible .'' " 
He  will  not  enter  into  an  argument  with  you,  nor  sift  the 


276  SCRIPTURE     READINGS. 

evidence  on  Avliicb  a  decision  depends;  but  he  will  say, 
"  Look  at  such  a  one ;  I  saw  him  at  the  communion  table  on 
Sunday ;  and  on  Monday  he  was  so  greedy  of  gain,  that  he 
cheated  one,  and  deceived  another,  and  seems  to  live  only 
for  making  money.  Look  at  that  other  individual ;  I  saw 
him  at  the  communion  table  on  Sunday,  and  yet  he  is  one  of 
the  most  unsociable  and  disagreeable  men  in  existence.  I 
cannot  see  that  Christianity  makes  people  better."  "Well, 
now,  suppose  he  has  stated  what  is  perfectly  true,  and  I  dare 
say  it  is  true  in  many  cases,  that  is  no  reason  why  he  should 
not  accept  the  truth ;  and  his  detection  of  the  inconsistency 
shows  that  he  himself  knows  that  Christianity  produces  a 
very  different  conduct,  and  inspires  a  very  opposite  tone, 
and  temperament,  and  character  ;  and  instead  of  making  the 
inconsistency  of  others  a  reason  for  the  unbehef  of  himself, 
he  ought  rather  to  accept  the  truth,  and  show  that  it  makes 
him  a  very  superior  character,  by  walking  before  God  and 
the  world  in  all  the  commandments  of  the  Lord  blameless. 
It  is  therefore  no  real  excuse,  but  a  pretended  or  alleged  one, 
to  calm  the  checks  and  remonstrances  of  conscience  in  re- 
nouncing Christianity  itself. 

Others  will  allege  that  they  would  like  to  be  Christians  — 
they  could  wish  that  they  were  so ;  but  that  really  they  are 
so  employed  in  the  world  that  they  have  no  time  for  it  at 
all.  So  far  this  is  true,  they  have  no  time  for  it ;  but  why  ? 
They  have  no  time  for  it  just  because  they  are  in  their 
hearts  not  persuaded  that  eternity  is  the  main  thing,  and 
time  the  subordinate  thing.  They  have  criminally  and  cul- 
pably no  time.  The  morning  is  for  business,  the  afternoon 
for  dinner,  the  evening  for  amusement,  the  night  for  bed ; 
and  not  a  minute  for  the  Bible,  for  religion,  for  the  soul,  for 
God.  But  wdiat  is  their  duty  ?  Not  to  plead  their  having 
no  time  as  an  excuse  for  their  being  no  Christians,  but  to 
seize  a  portion  of  the  time  that  they  have  devoted  to  other 
purposes ;  to  snatch  from  Mammon's  hands  the  days  or  the 


LUKE    XIV.  277 

hours  that  Mammon  has  robbed  them  of;  and  to  consecrate 
those  to  the  service  of  God,  tlie  study  of  their  own  eternal 
and  spiritual  interests.  And  as  to  the  main  thing  in  relig- 
ion, how  long  did  it  take  the  jailor  of  Philippi  to  believe  ? 
He  came  ignorant  of  Christianity ;  he  came  a  hardened 
reprobate  ;  he  asked,  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  The 
answer  was  conclusive  —  all  the  religion  of  a  Christian  — 
"  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be 
saved."  What  was  the  result  ?  Within  at  least  a  few 
hours,  he  professed  that  he  believed ;  he  was  baptized  ;  he 
rejoiced  in  Christ  with  all  his  household.  Now,  it  is  quite 
plain  it  does  not  take  a  long  time  to  believe.  It  may  take 
a  long  time  to  grow  to  the  stature  of  the  full  man  in  Christ, 
but  it  does  not  take  a  very  long  time  to  believe. 

Others  will  say,  "  We  are  not  Christians,  because  we  can- 
not be  so.  We  have  no  ability,"  they  will  say ;  "  we  have 
heard  you  j^reach,  but  we  are  without  strength.  It  is  not 
in  man  that  walketh  to  direct  his  steps.  Who  can  bring  a 
clean  thing  out  of  an  unclean  ?  "  Now  that  is  quite  true  ; 
but  if  you  feel  the  preciousness  of  being  a  Christian,  and 
feel  truly  what  you  say  —  that  you  have  no  ability  —  what 
should  be  your  course  ?  Simply  to  ask  for  one  that  has 
ability  to  give  you  the  ability  that  you  need.  If  I  am  hun- 
gry ;  if  you  ask,  "  Why  do  you  not  satisfy  that  hunger  ?  " 
and  I  answer,  "  I  have  no  bread,"  it  would  surely  follow  that 
I  should  try  to  get  bread  from  anybody  who  can  give  it  me. 
So  if  you  feel  that  you  have  no  strength  to  believe,  no 
strength  to  accept  the  Gospel,  what  is  your  course  ?  To 
ask  strength  of  Him  that  has  it.  We  are  told,  "Ask,  and 
ye  shall  receive;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  to  you." 
"My  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness."  The  man 
who  says  from  his  heart,  and  who  believes  while  he  says  it, 
"  I  have  no  strength,"  has  already  crossed  the  threshold  of 
the  Christian  temple,  and  is  already  a  Christian.  The  con- 
sciousness —  the  lamented  consciousness  —  of  no  strength, 
24 


278  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

is  the  dawn  of  Christicanity ;  but  wlien  it  is  used  as  an  ex- 
cuse, "  I  have  no  strength,"  or  as  a  mere  momentary  calm 
for  conscience,  then  it  is  a  worthless  pretence ;  it  is  like  the 
excuse  of  the  man  in  the  parable  —  unfounded  and  false. 

Another  excuse  that  others  give  is,  that  they  intend  to 
take  up  religion  as  soon  as  they  can  find  a  little  time,  —  as 
Felix  said,  a  convenient  season.  "  Procrastination,"  some 
one  has  said,  "  is  the  thief  of  time."  Now,  what  is  really 
the  meaning  of  putting  off  till  to-morrow  the  duty  of  to-day? 
Remember,  to  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  a  duty 
this  very  moment  obligatory ;  the  person  that  puts  off  till 
to-morrow  just  says,  "  God  declares  this  is  my  duty  to-day ; 
but  I  say  it  is  not  my  duty  to-day ;  it  is  only  my  duty  to- 
morrow." God  has  given  you  his  declaration  that  it  is  duty 
to-day.  The  instancy  of  duty  is  of  the  very  essence  of 
duty ;  and  your  putting  it  off  till  to-morrow  is  only  a  softer 
way  of  saying,  "I  will  not  do  w^hat  God  expressly  com- 
mands." My  dear  friends,  to-morrow  is  not  yours;  you 
may  never  see  it ;  the  only  moment  that  is  at  your  own  dis- 
posal is  the  moment  that  is  now  passing ;  and  to  determine 
to  do  something  to-morrow  —  as  if  to-morrow  were  your 
subject  —  is  to  assume  a  power  and  a  dignity  that  do  not 
belong  to  you. 

There  are  several  other  excuses,  some  of  them  deceitful, 
others  of  them  false ;  none  of  them,  I  add  in  conclusion, 
possessed  of  the  least  truth  or  reality.  Where  there  is  a 
valid  excuse,  there  is  complete  justification.  I  say,  if  there 
be  a  valid  excuse,  then  at  a  judgment-seat  you  will  not  be 
condemned.  If,  when  you  appear  at  the  judgment-seat,  you 
can  present  an  excuse  for  not  being  a  Christian  Avhich  is 
thoroughly  valid,  you  will  not  be  condemned,  you  will  not 
be  lost  because  you  had  the  excuse  that  you  were  not  sure 
Christianity  was  true ;  therefore  you  will  be  saved  because 
you  believed  that  you  were  not  so  depraved  as  it  turns  out 
that  you  were;  you  will  be  saved  because   you  had  too 


LUKE   XIV.  279 

mucli  to  do  in  looking  after  your  farm,  your  cattle,  and  your 
merchandise,  and  could  not  attend  to  religion.  If  these 
excuses  be  valid,  they  Avill  be  valid  at  a  judgment-seat,  and 
they  will  be  good  and  substantial  reasons  why  you  should 
not  be  condemned  then,  if  they  be  reasons  that  are  now 
tenable  in  the  light  of  Scripture  and  in  the  presence  of 
God.  But  you  know,  and  we  all  know,  they  are  false. 
There  is  no  good  reason  why  every  one  here  should  not  be 
a  Christian ;  there  is  every  good  reason  why  you  should ; 
and  if  any  one  be  not  a  Christian,  it  is  not  b-ecause  there  is 
not  grace  in  God,  because  there  is  not  atoning  and  expiatory 
virtue  in  the  cross,  because  there  is  not  ability  to  sanctify 
and  regenerate  the  heart;  but  just  because  the  heart  likes 
its  own  way,  and  will  persist  in  walking  in  one  way  —  the 
broad  way  that  leads  to  ruin  —  instead  of  looking  up  and 
seeking  that  grace  that  makes  all  things  new. 


CHAPTER    XIV.    28-32. 

FORETHOUGHT  —  TOWER-BUILDI>'G  —  OFTEN  CASTLE-BUILDING  IN 
THE  AIR  — WAR  — RELIGION  OF  OUR  FAITH  — THE  RELIGION 
OF  THE  CROWN  —  THE  RELIGION  OF  PERSONAL  FEELING  —  THE 
RELIGION  OF  THE  ARTS  — THE  RELIGION  OF  FORM  —  OF  INTEL- 
LECT—OF CONSCIENCE  — OF  NATURAL  AFFECTION  —  TRUE  RE- 
LIGION. 

Our  Lord  asks,  in  words  deeply  suggestive  of  thought, 
"  For  which  of  you,  intending  to  build  a  tower,  sitteth  not 
down  first,  and  counteth  the  cost,  whether  he  have  sufficient 
to  finish  it?  Lest  haply,  after  he  hath  laid  the  foundation, 
and  is  not  able  to  finish  it,  all  that  behold  it  begin  to  mock 
him,  saying.  This  man  began  to  build,  and  was  not  able  to 
finish.  Or  what  king,  going  to  make  war  against  another 
king,  sitteth  not  down  first,  and  consulteth  whether  he  be 
able  with  ten  thousand  to  meet  him  that  cometh  against  him 
with  twenty  thousand?  Or  else,  while  the  other  is  yet  a 
great  way  off,  he  sendeth  an  embassage,  and  desireth  condi- 
tions of  peace."  (Luke  xiv.  28-32.) 

Some  embrace  the  Gospel  from  reasons  that  are  not  con- 
clusive ;  and  when  stronger  reasons,  as  they  appear  to 
them,  arise  in  their  intercourse  with  social  life,  they  lightly 
renounce  a  religion  they  lightly  adopted.  In  accepting 
Christianity  as  ours,  in  making  a  profession  of  discipleship 
of  Christ,  we  ought  to  do  it  on  intelligent  and  conclusive 
grounds,  for  such  grounds  .there  unquestionably  are:  and 
when  we  have  adopted  it  on  grounds  that  are  adequate  to 
bear  the  stress  and  pressure  of  the  superstructure,  then 

(280) 


LUKE    XIV.  281 

when  testing  and  trying  times  come,  the  edifice  will  not  fall, 
our  religion  will  not  be  renounced,  we  shall  continue  stead- 
fast, immovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  and  word  of 
the  Lord. 

He  says,  a  tower  may  be  undertaken  to  be  built,  by  par- 
ties who  do  not  calculate  what  may  be  the  expense,  liow 
long  time  it  may  require,  how  many  men  may  be  requisite, 
what  ought  to  be  the  thickness  of  the  walls  and  the  depth 
of  the  foundations  ;  and  having  not  made  previous  accurate 
and  just  estimate  and  calculation,  their  money  fails  them, 
and  they  must  stop ;  hands  strike,  and  they  are  unable  to 
go  on ;  the  foundation  is  not  deep  enough,  and  it  sinks,  or 
what  is  called  settles ;  or  all  these  evils  together,  and  the 
tower  is  left  unfinished,  to  crumble  in  the  winds  and  rains 
of  heaven,  a  memorial  of  the  folly  of  him  who  undertook 
it,  and  a  lesson  to  all  that  are  within  its  shadow  not  to 
undertake  what  they  cannot  see  a  clear,  a  plain,  and  a  rea- 
sonable conclusion  to. 

So,  in  the  same  manner,  a  nation  plunges  rashly  into  war 
It  takes  offence  at  something  that  occurs  in  the  conduct  of 
another  nation ;  it  does  not  estimate  the  length,  and  breadth, 
and  depth  of  its  own  exchequer  as  it  should ;  it  does  not 
calculate  how  many  more  taxes  the  people  can  pay,  or 
whether  the  taxes  be  not  too  many  and  too  heavy  already ; 
it  does  not  estimate  the  number  and  expense  of  manning  its 
ships,  or  the  number  of  bayonets  and  muskets  it  can  bring 
into  the  field ;  but  rashly  plunges  into  war,  takes  up  the 
cause  of  some  other  dynasty ;  and  the  (Consequence  is,  that 
having  broken  peace,  having  rushed  into  war,  with  an  ex- 
chequer almost  exhausted,  with  a  people  bowed  down  with 
taxes,  it  finds  it  has  made  a  Quixotic  crusade,  —  worse  than 
that,  a  foolish  one,  —  and  it  is  obliged  to  make  dishonorable 
terms  in  order  peaceably  to  retire  from  a  war  into  which 
it  ought  never  to  have  plunged ;  whereas  if  it  had  esti- 
mated all  the  contingencies  of  the  case,  it  had  remained  at 
24* 


282  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

honorable  peace,  instead  of  being  precipitated  into  a  dis- 
honorable and  impracticable  war.  So  our  Lord  says,  Those 
persons  that  embrace  the  Gospel  ought  to  count  the  cost ; 
they  ought  to  look  Christianity  full  in  the  face.  You  ought 
not  to  subscribe  your  name  to  a  blank  check ;  you  ought 
not  to  put  your  name  to  a  promise  or  a  pledge,  the  amount, 
the  meaning,  and  the  contingencies  of  which  you  know 
nothing  of;  but  with  open  eyes,  with  free  and  unshackled 
mind,  after  protracted  and  careful  investigation  of  all,  you 
ought  to  accept  what  is  proved  to  be  true,  what  is  demon- 
strated to  be  from  God ;  and  having  done  so,  you  may  ex- 
pect that  the  Lord  that  sends  you  a  warfare  will  not  send 
you  at  your  own  charges,  but  will  perfect  his  strength  in 
your  weakness,  and  make  his  grace  sufficient  for  you. 

Let  me  show  how  some  persons  accept  Christianity,  or, 
translated  into  other  phrase,  make  the  profession  of  religion, 
upon  grounds  that  are  not  adequate  to  sustain  the  wear  and 
tear  of  this  world,  and  to  keep  them  steadfast  and  immova- 
ble even  to  the  end.  First,  there  are  those  who  elect  relig- 
ion merely  upon  impulse.  They  are  constitutionally  the 
creatures  of  impulse.  One  man  is  the  creature  of  feeling, 
another  man  is  more  the  creature  of  intellectual  conviction ; 
another  is  borne  away  or  decided  in  his  course  by  facts. 
The  Scotchman  must  have  strong  argument,  the  Irishman 
must  have  eloquent  appeal,  the  Englishman  must  have  hard 
matter-of-fact.  Each  nation  has  its  idiosyncracy ;  each 
individual  his  peculiar  temperament ;  and  many  who  are 
the  creatures  of  strong  emotion  subscribe  a  creed,  if  I  may 
use  the  expression,  on  the  spur  of  the  moment ;  and  because 
they  feel  powerfully,  they  think  they  are  convinced,  and 
that  the  creed  they  adopt  is  demonstrably  and  necessarily 
true.  This  will  not  be  sufficient  to  keep  them  steadfast. 
This  is  commencing  the  tower  before  they  have  laid  a  just 
foundation  ;  this  is  plunging  into  a  conflict  while  they  have 
not  the  weapons  that  will  enable  them  to  conquer.     Feeling 


LUKE    XIV.  283 

in  religion  is  good ;  but  feeling  must  not  be  all ;  an  eloquent 
appeal  may  move  you,  but  it  ought  not  to  decide  you. 
When  feeling  is  the  fountain  of  our  religion,  then  faith 
floats  when  feelinsj  flows;  but  it  ebbs  also  when  feeling 
evaporates  from  its  channel.  We  shall  work  with  enthu- 
siasm whilst  the  enthusiasm  lasts,  but  that  enthusiasm, 
being  a  stream  made  by  a  summer  shower,  will  soon  run 
dry,  and  then  the  creed,  the  conviction  that  depends  upon  it 
will  perish  with  it.  Smiles  and  tears,  showers  and  sun- 
shine, do  not  make  the  one  religion,  or  the  other  the  sum- 
mer; true  religion,  a  profession  that  will  stand  the  wear 
and  tear  of  this  life,  must  be  based  upon  something  stronger, 
deeper,  firmer  than  mere  impulse. 

In  the  second  place,  religion,  in  the  case  of  many,  is  that 
of  the  crowd.  Many  persons  are  religious  in  a  crowd  who 
are  most  irreligious  alone.  They  can  be  Christians  in  the 
mass,  but  not  Christians  when  insulated  from  it.  Many  a 
soldier  is  a  coward  when  alone  ;  but  becomes  a  hero  in  his 
place  in  the  battalion.  Many  a  man  is  no  Christian  at  all 
when  he  is  alone,  but  put  him  on  the  platform,  mix  him  up 
with  a  crowd  of  enthusiastic  Christian  professors,  and  it 
seems  as  if  the  combined  feeling  of  all  kindled  his  cold 
heart,  and  he  seems  a  Christian  in  the  crowd,  a  professor 
where  there  are  many  professors  with  him ;  but  left,  like 
Peter,  to  meet  a  servant  maid  alone,  and  he  would  deny  his 
blessed  Master,  and  show  he  was  either  not  a  Christian  or  a 
very  weak  one.  The  religion  of  the  crowd,  therefore,  is 
only  another  form  of  beginning  to  build  a  tower  without 
calculating  what  will  be  the  labor  and  the  means  requisite 
to  complete  it. 

There  is  a  third  sort  of  religion  —  the  religion  of  mere 
circumstance.  Many  a  person  professes  the  Christian  relig- 
ion, not  from  personal  investigation  of  its  claims,  nor  from 
experimental  acquaintance  with  its  truths,  nor  from  its  in- 
trinsic merits,  but  because  he  has  been  thrown  into  the 


284  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

society  of  one  he  loves  and  admires ;  and  he  accepts  the 
religion  of  the  man  that  he  loves,  he  believes  the  creed  of 
the  benefactor  he  is  deeply  indebted  to ;  and  his  conviction 
of  the  truth,  and  his  attachment  to  Christianity,  not  being 
built  upon  the  ascertained  intrinsic  merit  of  Christianity, 
but  upon  the  reflected  lustre  of  him  who  professes  it,  and 
whom  he  admires  and  loves,  his  convictions  waver  with  the 
consistency  of  him  on  whom  they  were  originally  founded, 
and  when  that  individual  falters,  or  fails,  or  falls  away,  his 
religion,  based  not  upon  personal  investigation  or  intrinsic 
merit,  will  falter,  and  fail,  and  give  way  with  him. 

There  are  others  whose  religion  is  simply  the  religion  of 
tradition.  Ask  many  a  Protestant,  Why  are  you  so  ?  and 
he  will  answer.  My  good  father  was  so  before  me,  and  his 
father  before  him ;  and  therefore  I  am  a  Protestant.  Now 
that  man  is  no  more  a  Protestant  than  he  is  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic, —  he  is  neither.  He  accepts  his  religion  precisely  as 
he  accepts  his  name,  —  by  birth.  His  religion  is  an  out- 
side robe,  not  an  inner  life  ;  and  therefore,  when  the  winds 
blow  and  the  rains  beat,  and  the  tower  is  about  to  be  fin-. 
ished,  he  finds  the  basis  on  which  his  conclusion  depended 
is  hollow ;  all  must  fall  to  the  ground,  or  he  must  leave 
what  he  commenced  unfinished  and  incomplete. 

There  is  another  religion,  which  may  be  called  the  relig- 
ion of  sentiment.  This  religion  is  nourished  by  all  the 
beautiful  and  the  romantic.  It  is  the  religion  of  Athens 
rather  than  the  religion  of  Jerusalem ;  the  religion  of 
painters  and  of  poets,  rather  than  the  religion  of  thinking 
and  of  intellectual  men.  It  abounds  in  tender  feelings ;  it 
covers  the  awful  in  God's  character  with  poetic  similes  and 
picturesque  thoughts ;  it  shrinks  from  the  more  stern  and 
awful  attributes  of  Deity.  But  such  a  rehgion  will  not  last. 
Individuals  change :  the  romance  of  twenty  becomes  the 
reality  of  forty.  Sentiment  gives  way  to  solemnity;  and 
this  religion  of  sentiment,  of  poetry,  and  of  picturesque- 


LUKE    XIV.  285 

ness  —  so  beautiful  in  the  sunshine,  so  fair  in  soft  and 
sunny  scenery  —  will  not  stand  the  rough  ordeal  of  the 
world  ;  it  will  not  tread  the  thorny  paths ;  it  refuses  to  walk 
in  flinty  roads;  it  furnishes  no  martyrs,  it  can  stand  no 
trials;  it  shrinks  from  a  cloud  as  a  Christian  would  not 
shrink  from  the  stake ;  it  is  the  beginning  of  a  tower  upon 
a  wrong  foundation ;  it  is  soon  left  unfinished,  or  it  falls, 
and  great  must  be  the  fall  thereof. 

There  is  another  religion  which  is  equally  false,  —  the 
religion  of  form.  Mind  you,  all  these  varied  religions,  or 
rather,  these  varied  grounds  on  which  persons  accept  the 
true  rehgion,  are  all  proofs  and  illustrations  of  commencing 
a  superstructure  on  a  wrong  foundation  —  of  attempting 
that  which  must  fail,  because  we  have  not  counted  the  cost 
or  estimated  the  expense  of  it.  There  is  another  religion, 
then,  —  the  religion  of  mere  form.  It  reads  the  outer  as- 
pect of  things,  not  the  inner  life  ;  beautiful  paintings,  glori- 
ous music,  gorgeous  and  sacerdotal  robes,  —  these  charm  it, 
and  constitute  in  its  judgment  the  reason  why  it  accepts 
Christianity.  The  altar  takes  the  place  of  God ;  the  sign 
of  the  cross,  the  place  of  Christ  crucified;  rood  screens, 
holy  places,  beautiful  cathedrals  are  the  kingdom  of  God ; 
which  really  is  not  meat  nor  drink,  but  righteousness,  and 
peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  baptizes  a  Pagan, 
and  calls  that  Pagan  therefore  a  Christian ;  it  looks  at  the 
outer  symbol  more  than  at  the  inner  reality ;  its  conversion 
is  a  transference  of  creed,  not  the  transformation  of  the 
heart.  It  is  the  enrolment  of  a  man's  baptismal  name  in 
an  ecclesiastical  register,  not  the  reconciliation  of  a  sinner 
to  God,  and  the  regeneration  of  a  heart  that  is  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  in  sins.  Now  this  religion  will  last  as  long  as 
cathedrals,  and  processions,  and  splendor  lasts ;  but  in  the 
days  of  persecution,  when  catacombs  take  the  place  of 
cathedrals,  and  dens  the  place  of  basilicas,  and  the  desert, 
and  the  morass,  and  the  mountain  side  the  room  of  mediae- 


286  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

val  cathedrals ;  then,  its  nutriment  being  gone,  its  religion 
goes  with  it,  and  shows  how  truly  it  Avas  the  building  of  a 
tower  without  the  means  of  finishing  or  maintaining  it.  The 
eyes  may  be  ravished,  yet  the  soul  not  saved ;  the  senses 
may  be  charmed,  yet  the  affections  not  sanctified.  A  coun- 
try may  be  full  of  beautiful  churches,  and  yet  empty  of 
Christian  men.  Thousands  may  be  expended  in  stones 
wherewith  Christian  temples  are  built ;  and  the  poor  of  the 
land  —  the  living  stones  of  Christ  —  may  pine  and  per- 
ish for  want  of  daily  bread.  This  is  not  the  religion  that 
will  stand. 

And  in  the  next  place,  let  me  add,  what  will  seem  to  you, 
perhaps,  more  startling  —  there  is  the  religion  of  intellect, 
which  will  no  more  stand.  If  some  profess  Christianity 
from  sentimental  sympathy  with  its  beautiful  parts,  and 
others  profess  Christianity  from  admiration  of  its  ritual,  or 
its  forms;  there  are  others  still  that  profess  Christianity 
from  deep  intellectual  apprehension  of  it ;  and  yet  theirs  is  a 
religion  that  will  not  stand.  The  English  religion  is  very 
much  the  religion  of  evidence,  the  result  of  matter-of-fact ; 
the  Irish  religion  —  when  real,  the  most  genuine,  I  believe, 
and  the  most  lasting  of  all  —  is  the  religion  of  deep,  inward 
emotion  and  feeling ;  the  Scotch  religion  is  often  in  the  head 
—  often  very,  very  cold,  though  always  most  clear.  But 
even  this  religion  —  the  religion  of  intellect  —  when  it  is 
clearest,  may  not  be  that  deep,  inward,  real  religion  which 
will  outlast  the  ordeal  of  the  world  in  which  it  must  lire, 
and  be  crowned  with  benedictions  at  the  judgment-seat  of 
God.  One  may  repeat  the  Shorter  Catechism,  and  yet  not 
be  a  Christian ;  one  may  subscribe  to  the  Nicene  Creed,  the 
Confession  of  Faith,  and  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  and  yet 
not  be  a  Christian,  One  may  battle  for  Justification  by 
Faith,  and  yet  may  never  have  felt  its  power ;  one  may  be 
an  opponent  of  Socinianism,  an  antagonist  of  Komanism, 
and  yet  not  be  experimentally  acquainted  with  the  living, 


LUKE    XIV.  287 

regenerative,  transforming  power  of  true  and  living  religion. 
Orthodoxy  is  not  regeneration  of  heart :  the  devils  believe 
—  the  devils  know  every  article  of  the  creed  to  be  true  ;  but 
whilst  they  know  and  believe,  they  tremble.  It  is  possible, 
therefore,  to  have  a  clear  head,  and  yet  not  to  have  a  regen- 
erated heart ;  it  is  possible  to  be  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of 
beautiful  music,  of  ceremonies,  of  paintings,  and  all  the 
poetry  of  religion,  and  yet  not  to  be  a  Christian ;  it  is  possi- 
ble to  be  sentimentally  attached  to  religion  from  admiration 
of  the  sufferings  of  its  saints,  the  devotedness  of  its  martyrs, 
the  beauty  of  its  sentiments,  the  poetry  of  its  compositions, 
and  yet  not  to  be  a  Christian  at  all. 

And  lastly,  there  is  another  religion,  that  will  still  more, 
surprise  you,  when  I  say,  that  it  also  may  not  be  a  religion 
that  will  stand  —  there  is  the  religion  of  conscience.  It  is 
possible  for  conscience  to  be  in  your  religion,  and  yet  your 
heart  not  to  be  the  subject  of  living  and  experimental  Chris- 
tianity. Of  all  the  organs  in  the  human  soul,  the  conscience 
is  perhaps  the  most  important ;  and  that  it  should  be  touched, 
that  it  should  respond  to  every  duty,  that  it  should  sensitive- 
ly shrink  from  every  sin,  is  socially  most  important,  it  may 
personally  be  salvation.  Wherever  there  is  the  mere  relig- 
ion of  conscience,  what  will  be  its  effect?  You  will  pray 
because  conscience  drives  you  to  it,  and  your  prayer  will  be 
a  penance,  not  a  pleasure.  You  will  read  God's  word,  and 
you  dare  not  cease  to  do  so,  because  your  conscience  would 
scourge  you  with  scorpion  lash  if  you  were  to  omit  it.  You 
go  to  the  house  of  God  because  your  conscience  would 
trouble  you  if  you  were  not  to  do  so.  But  is  this  the  beau- 
tiful, the  happy,  the  blessed  religion  of  Jesus  ?  Such  ser- 
vice is  slavery,  such  duties  are  drudgery,  such  a  religion  is 
a  ceaseless  and  jierpetual  penance,  not  righteousness,  and 
peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Thus,  —  intellect,  conscience,  sentiment,  poetry,  form,  cer- 
emony —  all  may  be  involved  in  religion,  and  yet  there  may 


288  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

be  no  living  personal  effect  produced  upon  the  heart  and  the 
conscience. 

There  is  another  form  of  religion  which  is  equally  pre- 
carious—  there  is  the  religion  of  natural  affection.  Your 
home  may  be  its  sanctuary,  your  fireside  its  shrine ;  the  sub- 
ject of  it  a  husband,  a  wife,  a  son,  or  a  daughter.  Every 
reciprocal  duty  under  the  domestic  roof  may  be  beautifully 
rendered,  but  the  cement  of  that  home  may  not  be  religion, 
the  light  of  that  fireside  may  not  be  from  Calvary ;  the  con- 
straining motives  of  the  hearts  that  are  there  may  not  be 
taken  from  the  word  of  God.  Many  a  one  is  beautiful  and 
faultless  in  all  the  relationships  of  social  life,  who  is  utterly 
.destitute  of  that  great  relationship  that  should  control  all, 
govern  all,  and  be  stronger  than  all  —  the  tie  that  binds  the 
son  to  his  heavenly  Father ;  the  child  of  humanity  to  his 
God.  And  when  such  a  father,  mother,  son,  daughter 
appear  at  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  the  answer  given 
them  will  be  something  such  as  this :  "  Most  obedient 
have  you  been  as  sons,  most  dutiful  as  daughters,  most  spot- 
less as  parents,  most  faultless  as  husband  and  wife ;  but 
where  have  I  been  in  your  thoughts  ?  What  place  have  I 
occupied  in  your  hearts  ?  Is  it  not  true  that  you  would 
have  been  so  if  the  Bible  never  had  been  written,  if  God  did 
not  exist,  if  Christ  had  never  died  ?  These  things  you  ought 
to  be,  and  such  things  Christians  will  be ;  but  the  other,  and 
the  higher,  and  the  more  precious  things  you  ought  never  to 
have  left  undone." 

Thus  I  have  shown  on  how  many  grounds  religion  may 
be  accepted  —  the  true  religion  —  and  yet  these  grounds 
may  fail.  These  grounds  may  enter  into  your  acceptance 
as  auxiliaries,  but  they  ought  not  to  be  —  any  of  them,  or  all 
of  them  —  the  sole  and  the  only  ground.  Religion  appeals 
to  man's  judgment,  conscience,  affections,  heart;  it  asks 
your  intelligent  acceptance,  it  speaks  as  to  reasonable  men, 
and  it  says,  "Judge  ye  what  I  say."     But  this  rehgion,  so 


LUKE   XIV.  289 

precious  itself,  must  be  accepted  by  me  on  ground  so  strong 
that  it  shall  not  ^vaver  with  the  beating  of  my  pulse,  that  it 
shall  not  fail  when  churches  perish,  and  loud  professors 
break  down ;  it  must  be  based  on  some  ground  that  shall  be 
strong  and  lasting  as  itself;  so  that  resting  on  it  I  can  bear 
all  the  shocks  of  time,  and  2^ursue  and  finish  my  course  with 
victoiy,  and  with  a  blessing.  There  are  so  many  prejudices- 
to  be  laid,  so  many  passions  to  be  purified,  so  much  opposi- 
tion to  be  overcome,  so  many  enemies  to  be  conquered,  that 
I  must  not  only  have  a  strong  religion,  but  I  must  have  that 
religion  upon  strong  grounds  —  strong  as  itself  is  strong. 
Now  this  rehgion  is,  first,  the  religion  of  conviction.  The 
intellect  must  be  satisfied ;  that  must  not\  be  all,  while  it 
must  be  a  part  of  the  ground  on  which  you  accept  it.  The 
whole  of  our  religion  is  addressed  to  reasonable  men.  An 
apostle  says,  "  Judge  ye ; "  and  I  believe  that  for  no  one 
thing  upon  earth  is  there  such  overwhelming  evidence  as 
there  is  for  the  authenticity  and  the  inspiration  of  this  Book. 
The  man  that  can  prove  that  the  Bible  is  not  inspired,  and 
be  satisfied  that  he  has  proved  it,  may  also  be  persuaded,  I 
think,  wdth  much  less  argument,  that  Napoleon  Bonaparte 
never  existed,  that  Shakspeare  was  a  pure  literary  myth, 
and  that  Alexander  the  Great  never  overran  the  world  with 
his  victorious  arms.  If,  then,  we  may  be  possessed  of  all 
these,  as  I  have  said,  and  yet  not  have  the  religion  that  will 
stand,  there  must,  therefore,  be  not  only  the  religion  of  prin- 
ciple, based  upon  conviction,  upon  forethought,  upon  calcu- 
lation of  all  contingencies,  but  there  must  be  also  the  relig- 
ion of  the  heart,  the  conscience,  and  the  affections ;  and  still 
more,  it  must  be  inspired  and  taught  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God.  The  promise  is,  "  All  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of 
thee ; "  and  unless  Christianity  be  incorporated  into  my 
heart  by  Him  who  inspires  it,  unless  the  intellect,  the  con- 
science, and  the  affections  be  taught  and  inspired,  and  puri- 
fied, and  impressed  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  our  religion  will 
25 


290  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

not  stand,  Intellect  will  let  go  its  hold,  conscience  will  let  go 
its  influence,  the  affections  —  however  tenacious  —  will  let 
go  their  earliest  love. 

But  if  this  religion  be  taught  us  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God  —  if  it  be  not  a  mere  cold  conviction  on  the  threshold, 
but  a  living  lodger  receiving  hospitality  in  the  intellect,  the 
conscience,  the  heart  —  if  it  be  not  something  outside  of  me 
that  I  may  admire,  approve,  welcome  so  far,  but  something 
inside  of  me,  that  guides  me,  sustains  me,  strengthens  me ; 
that  enables  me  to  say,  I  am  a  Christian,  not  because  I  have 
proved  Christianity  to  be  from  God,  not  because  I  admire 
the  beautiful  in  it,  not  because  I  am  sentimental,  and  can 
appreciate  its  fine  sentiment,  but  because  I  know  in  whom  I 
have  believed,  and  have  felt  in  my  heart  that  this  Gospel  is 
the  w^isdom  of  God  and  the  power  of  God,  and  have  been 
taught  by  Him  that  inspired  it ;  —  such  a  religion  will  not 
be  the  commencement  of  a  tower  that  will  not  be  finished, 
the  begimiing  of  a  warfare  that  w^ill  not  result  in  victory ;  it 
will  be  love,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  And 
so  real  is  this,  that  there  is -many  a  Christian  who  never 
read  a  book  on  the  evidence  —  though  I  think  he  ought  to 
read  it  —  who  never  read  any  thing  except  his  Bible  and 
the  Pilgrim's  Progress  ;  and  wdio  has  yet  a  grasp  of  living 
religion  as  indestructible,  and  more  so,  as  life  itself.  Ask 
the  peasant  on  his  native  hills.  Why  do  you  believe  Chris- 
tianity is  true?  On  what  ground  do  you  accept  the  Bible 
as  God's  book?  He  w^ill  ask  you,  not  with  scorn,  but  wath 
amazement,  "  Ask  me  why  I  believe  that  the  winds  blow, 
why  tliese  streams  rush  onward  to  the  ocean ;  why  the 
heather  bell  blooms  in  August,  and  the  grass  grows  green  in 
April ;  ask  me  how  I  know  that  I  live ;  and  then  may  you 
ask  me  how  I  know  that  thp  Bible  is  true.  It  has  comforted 
me  in  sorrow  ;  it  has  gladdened  with  its  sunshine  the  cares 
and  the  duties  of  every-day  life ;  it  has  opened  up  for  me  a 
home  beyond  the  stars ;  it  has  filled  my  heart  with  bright 


LUKE    XIV.  291 

hopes,  it  has  taught  me  blessed  lessons ;  and  I  have  known 
from  tliat  religion,  and  received  from  the  Author  of  it,  peace, 
and  joj,  and  hope,  and  trust,  and  light,  and  life.  Show  me 
that  my  heart  does  not  beat,  and  then  you  may  prove  to  me 
that  this  religion  is  not  from  God,  and  that  Jesus  is  not  my 
Saviour."  Such  a  religion  is  too  deeply  rooted  in  the  heart 
ever  to  be  torn  up ;  and  it  is  the  only  religion  that  will 
stand.  Often  have  I  said  to  you,  I  never  wonder  that  so 
many  become  Roman  Catholics ;  but  often  do  I  wonder  that 
every  unconverted  man  does  not  become  a  Roman  CathoHc. 
If  the  question  is  Avhether  Romanism  or  Protestantism  be 
most  delightful  to  the  natural  man,  Romanism  unquestion- 
ably has  it.  It  has  more  of  the  beauty,  the  pomp,  the  splen- 
dor, the  circumstance,  the  pretension  than  true  religion  has ; 
and  it  has  that  easy,  ever  accessible  absolution,  and  sin  play- 
ing at  see-saw,  in  which  the  natural  man  must  ever  delight : 
so  much  more  easy  is  it  to  do  penance  than  to  repent ;  so 
much  more  congenial  to  mortify  the  flesh  than  the  lusts  of 
the  flesh ;  so  much  easier  to  confess  at  that  box  in  the  cathe- 
dral and  to  get  absolution  for  a  small  consideration  than  to 
disburthen  the  conscience  before  God,  and  seek  pardon  for 
the  past,  and  crucifixion  of  nature  for  the  future.  Roman- 
ism is  a  religion,  with  all  its  forms,  its  pomp,  its  splendor, 
and  its  circumstance,  that  is  most  beautifully  conceived  ;  it 
is  a  masterly  conception.  A  religion  so  magnificent  in  its 
conception  is  Romanism  that  it  did  not  come  from  man  — 
he  has  not  wisdom  enough  to  conceive  it ;  it  never  came 
from  God,  it  is  too  wicked  for  that ;  it  bears  on  its  brow  the 
image  and  the  superscription  of  the  archangel  fallen  —  aU 
his  wisdom  and  all  his  wickedness  combined. 

In  the  day  into  which  we  are  plunging,  I  believe  intel- 
lectual religion  Avill  give  way,  the  mere  religion  of  conscience 
will  give  way,  the  mere  religion  of  sentiment  will  give  way ; 
but  that  religion  that  is  rooted  in  the  heart,  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  taught,  that  has  become  part  and  parcel  of  my- 


292  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

self,  so  that  I  live,  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me,  — 
that  religion,  like  the  gigantic  and  the  glorious  oak,  its  roots 
deep  in  the  soil,  and  its  towering  branches  sparkling  in  the 
sunshine,  or  making  music  in  tlie  hurricane,  but  strong  and 
indestructible  in  both  —  that  religion  shall  never  fail ;  and 
they  that  are  thus  taught,  neither  life  nor  death,  nor  height 
nor  depth,  nor  principalities  nor  powers,  nor  any  other 
creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  them  from  the  love  of 
God  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

PRACTICE  OF  JESUS — OBJECTION  OF  THE  SCRIBES  AND  PHARISEES — 
THE  LOST  SHEEP  —  ANSWER  TO  SCEPTIC  AND  ROMISH  OBJEC- 
TIONS  LOST  CORN — ITS  RECOVERY  —  THE  PRODIGAL  SON — HIS 

APOSTASY — REPENTANCE  AND  RETURN — RECEPTION — ELDER  SON 
INSPIRATION   OF  THE   PARABLES. 

This  chapter  contains  three  of  those  beautiful  and  touch- 
ing portraits  which  one  dreads  ahnost  to  approach,  lest  com- 
ment should  only  spoil  the  simplicity  and  the  grandeur  of 
the  beautiful  original.  But  yet  there  are  points  and  traits 
which  may  not  strike  the  mere  superficial  reader,  which 
appear  to  those  who  have  devoted  their  time  and  their  atten- 
tion more  thoroughly  to  its  analysis  ;  and  some  of  those 
latent  links  of  connection,  if  I  may  so  speak,  or  hidden 
traits,  I  would  desire  to  draw  forth  and  to  exhibit  in  more 
prominent,  and  I  trust  instructive  as  well  as  impressive  relief 
before  your  minds. 

Let  us  first  of  all  notice  the  occasion  of  these  three 
beautifid  parables  being  spoken.  We  find  that  the  publi- 
cans —  the  tax-gatherers  employed  by  the  Roman  govern- 
ment—  the  most  depraved,  avaricious,  and  dishonest  of  the 
land ;  "  and  the  sinners,"  —  that  is,  the  most  abandoned  men 
and  women  in  the  streets,  —  came  near  to  Jesus  to  hear 
him.  The  original  is  more  than  "  came  near ; "  our  version 
would  imply  that  tliey  came  only  once  for  all,  and  left ;  but 
the  original  is  in  the  imperfect  tense,  and  means,  "  tliey  kept 
25*  (293) 


294  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

constantly  coming  near  to  him ; "  they  were  in  the  habit  of 
gathering  round  him :  it  is  the  imperfect  tense ;  and  the  im- 
perfect tense  conveys  the  idea  of  continuity,  and  not  an 
act  once  done  and  complete  for  ever.  It,  therefore,  reveals 
to  us  the  fact  that  Jesus  was  in  the  habit  of  receiving  sinners 
to  be  instructed ;  not  to  be  patronized  or  encouraged  in  the 
practice  of  their  sins,  but  to  be  instructed  in  the  knowledge 
of  the  issues  of  their  wickedness,  and  in  the  way  of  pardon, 
reconciliation,  and  peace.  One  would  think  that  this  spec- 
tacle was  so  beautiful  that  all  would  have  rejoiced  when 
they  saw  it;  and  that  such  an  act  of  disinterested  benevo- 
lence would  have  commanded  the  homage,  the  admiration, 
and  the  symj)athy  of  all ;  and  above  all,  that  they  that  were 
the  great  teachers  of  the  people  would  have  been  the  last 
to  complain,  that  while  they  were  preaching  as  they  pre- 
ferred to  the  higher  classes  of  the  land,  one  should  descend 
to  the  unpenetrated  strata,  the  lowest  dregs  of  the  human 
race,  and  preach  to  the  rude  crowd  the  glad  tidings  of  ever- 
lasting life.  But  we  read  that  the  Pharisees  and  Scribes  — 
they  that  had  the  true  apostolical  succession  of  the  day,  — 
they  that  sat  in  Moses'  chair,  and  were  the  accredited  teach- 
ers of  the  land,  and  who  ought,  therefore,  to  have  been  the 
very  last  to  object,  were  actually  the  first  to  murmur ;  and 
the  ground  of  their  murmuring  was,  "  This  man  receiveth 
sinners."  What  they  unbraided  him  with,  as  his  crime, 
however,  was  the  brightest  gem  in  his  diadem ;  the  ground 
of  their  accusation  was  the  evidence  of  his  mission :  if  he 
had  not  received  sinners  he  would  not  have  had  the  essential 
credentials  of  the  Messiah.  The  fact  that  his  enemies  ad- 
mitted that  he  received  sinners  was  no  slight  evidence  that 
he  was  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  that  One  should  come 
to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost. 

Now  our  blessed  Lord  did  not  rebuke  them  by  a  stern 
and  recriminating  rebuke,  as  man  would  do,  and  as  they 
richly  deserved,  but  he  told  them  three  parables  -^  so  simple, 


LUKE  XV.  295 

so  instructive,  so  pertinent  to  the  question  before  them,  that 
they  could  see  at  once  the  justice  of  his  conduct,  and  the 
iniquity  of  their  own  objection. 

The  first  parable  describes  man  ignorant  and  stupid,  a 
stranger  to  God,  ai>d  alienated  and  helpless ;  a  sheep :  not 
the  dog  that  finds  his  way  home  again  to  his  kennel ;  but 
the  sheep  that,  having  strayed,  is  devoured  by  the  wolf,  or 
carried  away  by  the  roaring  cataract,  and  rarely  or  never  of 
itself  finds  its  way  home  again  to  the  fold.  The  second  is 
the  unconsciously -lost ;  the  coin,  without  sensibility,  without 
knowledge ;  but  a  mere  coin,  and  incapable  of  retrieving 
itself:  and  the  last,  the  deliberate  and  wilful  aj)ostate,  going 
from  a  father's  house,  setting  up  on  his  own  account,  and 
reaping  all  the  results  of  his  imprudence,  his  disobedience, 
and  his  sinful  apostasy. 

Our  first  is  the  picture  of  the  lost  sheep ;  and  Jesus  argues 
with  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  thus  :  Suppose  that  you  — 
you,  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  —  be  the  ninety-and-nine ; 
suppose  there  be  two  classes  ;  suppose  one  hundred  persons- 
divided  into  two  classes ;  and  suppose  there  be  ninety-and- 
nine  that  need  no  repentance  —  such  as  you  think  yourselves 
to  be.  He  does  not  say,  that  there  is  any  one  upon  earth 
that  needs  no  repentance ;  but  he  assumes,  for  argument's 
sake,  that,  as  they  thought,  they  need  no  repentance  :  "  sup- 
pose it,"  he  says  ;  "  I  do  not  now  stop  to  discuss  it."  Very 
well ;  ninety-and-nine  need  no  repentance ;  but  one  is  a  sin- 
ner. Suppose  one  of  you  have  a  hundred  sheep ;  if  you 
lose  one  of  them,  do  you  not  leave  the  ninety-and-nine 
which  are  safe  in  the  fold,  and  go  after  that  one  sheep  that 
is  lost ;  and  do  you  not  feel  more  regret  —  whether  it  be  just 
or  not,  that  is  not  the  question,  —  but  do  you  not  feel  more 
regret  and  sorrow  about  the  one  lost  sheep  than  you  feel  of 
satisfaction  and  of  joy  about  the  ninety-and-nine  that  remain  ? 
Is  it  not  true,  that  you  feel  not  so  much  thankful  for  the 
ninety-and-nine  that  remain,  and  that  you  think  only  of  the 


296  SCRIPTURE     READINGS. 

one  that  has  gone  astray  ?  And  if  this  be  so,  do  you  not 
go  after  this  lost  one,  and  search  till  you  find  it,  and  bring 
it  home  ?  Then,  is  it  not  very  like  human  nature,  he  says, 
when  the  Great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep  has  lost  one  out  of  a 
hundred,  that  he  goes  after  that  lost  sheep  that  never  can 
recover  itself,  and  seeks  it  successfully:  he  finds  it;  and 
when  he  has  found  it,  he  does  not  beat  it,  nor  does  he  pun- 
ish it  at  all ;  but  he  lays  it  on  his  shoulder ;  and  so  pleased 
is  he  with  the  recovery  of  this  one  lost  sheep,  that  instead 
of  complaining  that  it  was  permitted  to  go  astray,  he  is  too 
hapi^y  to  find  it  out ;  and  when  he  gets  home  he  is  so  delighted 
that  he  goes  to  his  neighbors  —  the  human  heart,  having 
good  news,  is  incapable  of  having  a  monopoly  of  them  — 
and  tells  them,  "  Rejoice  with  me ;  for  I  have  found  my 
sheep  which  was  lost."  Now  tliis  picture  is  so  plain,  so 
beautiful,  so  directly  to  the  point,  that  every  Pharisee's  heart 
must  have  felt  it,  his  conscience  must  have  been  convinced, 
though  his  conduct  may  not  have  been  altered  by  it. 
•  Let  us  see,  in  another  view,  the  force  of  this.  First, 
Christ  notices  one  single  sinner  who  has  gone  astray. 
When  one  sheep  has  left  the  fold,  he  sees  that  wandering 
sheep.  There  is  not  a  sinner  that  has  gone  astray  from 
God  that  he  does  not  see.  Christ  sets  out  to  seek  a  lost 
soul,  nor  does  he  fail  till  he  find  it. 

In  the  next  place,  when  he  has  found  it,  he  tells  all ;  and 
there  is  joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth.  Docs 
this  prove  that  the  saints  and  angels  that  are  in  glory  see 
the  repentance  of  one  sinner,  and  as  they  see  it  rejoice  ? 
The  members  of  the  Church  of  Rome  say  it  does ;  this  is 
their  favorite  controversial  text  to  prove  that  angels  pray 
for  us,  and  that  we  may  pray  to  them.  They  must  surely 
be  in  great  want  of  Scripture  proof  to  argue  from  such  a 
text  as  this,  that  angels  and  saints  in  heaven  pray  for  us, 
when  really  it  says  nothing  about  it ;  and  surely  the  conclu- 
sion is  still  more  extravagant  that  we  may  pray  to  them. 


LUKE   XV.  297 

when  nothing  is  said  about  it.  But  instead  of  proving  it, 
the  text  would  seem  to  me  the  most  triumphant  disproof  of 
the  pretension  ahogether.  I  do  not  say  whether  angels  or 
saints  in  heaven  know  or  not ;  I  simply  assert,  that  this  text 
does  not  prove  it.  For  mark  what  it  says,  —  The  shepherd 
finds  the  sheep ;  he  goes  and  tells  his  friends,  who  did  not 
otherwise  know  it  till  he  told  them  ;  and  when  he  tells  them, 
then  there  is  joy  among  them  —  that  is,  as  soon  as  Christ 
has  recovered  the  lost  soul,  he  tells  the  angels ;  they  and  all 
that  hear  of  it  "  rejoice,"  and  there  is  joy  in  heaven.  Now, 
instead  of  proving  that  angels  in  heaven  know  directly  a 
single  transaction  upon  earth,  it  proves  that  they  need  to  be 
told  what  takes  place  upon  earth.  And  then  such  is  their 
joy  that  they  rejoice  more  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth, 
than  over  ninety-and  nine  just  persons,  which  need  no  repent- 
ance. 

This  parable,  in  the  next  place,  is  an  admirable  reply  to 
the  sceptic.  The  very  first  objection  of  a  sceptic  to  Chris- 
tianity is,  "  How  can  you  suppose  that  God,  who  has  thou- 
sands and  millions  of  orbs  more  vast,  magnificent,  and  glo- 
rious than  this,  would  have  taken  so  much  trouble  about 
this  paltry  speck  in  the  universe,  which  he  might  have  ex- 
punged by  a  word,  and  replaced  by  an  orb  more  beautiful 
and  more  blessed  than  Eden  itself?  How  can  you  suppose 
that  God  would  be  at  the  trouble  to  send  his  Son  to  be 
crucified  upon  this  little  orb,  —  that  he  should,  having  so 
many  that  are  holy  and  pure,  have  taken  such  trouble,  and 
expended  tears,  and  agony,  and  blood,  borne  Gethsemane, 
the  cross,  and  all  their  sufferings,  to  recover  what,  if  ex- 
punged, would  not  have  lost  one  atom  of  his  glory,  and 
would  not  diminish  in  the  least  degree  his  happiness?" 
The  answer  is,  our  own  conduct.  Just  as  the  shepherd 
leaves  the  ninety-and-nine  that  are  safe  in  the  fold,  and 
goes  after  the  one  that  is  lost,  so  God  has  left  the  ninety- 
and-nme  orbs  that  sliine  in  their  pristine  effulgence ;   and 


298  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

according  to  the  analogy  of  nature,  that  we  ourselves  in  our 
inmost  hearts  res})ond  to,  he  has  come  after  this  lost  and 
strayed  orb ;  and  when  this  orb  shall  be  reinstated  —  as  it  is 
not  yet  —  in  its  ancient  orbit,  and  no  longer  a  broken  off 
fragment  of  the  great  continent  of  heaven,  surrounded  with 
darkness,  and  washed  by  the  waves  of  sorrow  and  of  sin, 
but  reknit  to  the  grand  continent,  and  constituting  part  of 
the  happy  land,  —  when  this  orb,  thus  reunited,  thus  reflect- 
ing the  splendor  of  its  Creator,  is  seen  by  angels  and  by 
other  orbs,  its  holy  sisterhood,  there  will  be  a  richer  song, 
a  grander  praise,  a  louder  triumph  over  this  one  orb  re- 
turned than  over  ninety-and-nine  grander  worlds  that  need 
no  repentance.  Instead,  therefore,  of  the  sceptic's  idea 
being  founded  on  human  nature,  it  is  contrary  to  the  very 
deepest  and  holiest  instincts  of  the  human  heart ;  and  instead 
of  God's  expending  so  much  on  this  orb  being  at  all  im- 
probable, it  was,  on  the  contrary,  the  most  natural  thing,  the 
most  probable  thing,  and  our  own  experience  says  so.  Let 
a  mother  have  seven  children ;  let  one  be  a  prodigal  in  a 
far  distant  country ;  w^hen  the  winds  blow,  and  the  sea  waves 
rise,  and  bad  tidings  come  from  abroad,  she  will  think  more 
of  the  one  son  that  has  gone  astray  than  of  the  six  that  remain 
at  her  own  fireside.  It  is  an  instinct  in  our  nature  ;  and 
that  instinct  speaks  from  the  depths  of  the  human  heart,  and 
rebukes  the  infidel  objection  that  God  could  not  take  so 
much  trouble  to  reclaim  and  restore  this  lost  orb. 

The  next  parable  is  that  of  a  lost  coin.  The  coin  has  the 
image  and  superscription  of  its  proprietor,  as  a  shilling  or  a 
sovereign  has  the  superscription  of  our  Queen.  That  coin 
has  been  lost,  the  superscription  is  worn  off,  the  image  is 
destroyed ;  but  the  woman  —  representing  here,  I  think,  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  church  or  in  the  world  —  missing  this 
coin,  though  she  has  a  great  many,  yet  missing  that  one,  in- 
stantly goes  after  it,  searches  every  nook  and  corner  until 
she  has  found  it ;  and  when  she  has  got  it,  she  bids  all  her 


LUKE   XV.  299 

neighbors  rejoice  that  it  is  found.  So  the  lost  sinner,  once 
created  in  the  image  of  his  God,  but  having  that  image  al- 
together eifaced,  and  the  growing  lineaments  of  the  great 
usurper  beginning  to  appear  upon  the  coin,  and  to  occupy 
the  place  of  the  image  and  superscription  of  Him  that  made 
it  —  lost,  and  rusted,  and  decayed,  the  great  and  original 
Proprietor  searches  out,  hunts  it  through  all  its  obscurity, 
j)enetrates  every  nook,  searches  every  corner,  sweeps  with 
hurricane,  and  plague,  and  war,  and  pestilence,  and  famine, 
every  corner  of  the  earth,  if  peradventure  he  may  reveal 
this  coin,  lurking  in  its  hidden  place,  where  it  will  be  con- 
sumed with  the  world  if  left  alone ;  and  having  detected  it, 
he  seizes  it,  polishes  it,  stamps  it  with  its  original  impression, 
and  gives  it  currency  in  heaven,  not  the  least  beautiful  and 
precious  of  the  whole. 

The  last  parable  that  he  gives  is  perhaps  the  most  touch- 
ing and  striking  one  of  all.  A  father  had  two  sons.  I  do 
not  think  the  elder  is  the  Jew  ;  I  think  here  that  he  assumes 
that  the  elder  is  the  Scribe  and  the  Pharisee.  You  will 
observe,  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  murmured  because  he 
received  sinners ;  and  he  says,  "  I  will  take  it  for  granted 
that  you  are  blameless,  that  you  have  never  gone  astray, 
never  played  the  prodigal ;  that  you  are  all  that  you  profess 
to  be."  And  then  he  says,  "This  father  had  two  sons. 
And  the  younger  of  them  said  to  his  father.  Father,  give  me 
the  portion  of  goods  that  falleth  to  me."  The  elder  son 
had  three  fourths,  the  younger  son  one  fourth ;  and  he  said, 
Give  me  that  one  fourth.  And  his  father  did  so.  "  And 
not  many  days  after,  the  younger  son  gathered  all  together." 
He  wished  to  be  independent.  The  spirit  of  independence 
is  the  spirit  of  folly  and  of  sin.  There  is  an  independence 
that  is  beautiful,  that  is,  the  desire  not  to  be  dependent  on 
others  for  our  bread,  when  our  own  heads  or  hands  can  earn 
it ;  but  there  is  a  spirit  of  independence  or  insulation  from 
the  mass  that  is  in  itself  most  sinful.     Well,  this  younger 


300  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

son  was  determined  to  be  independent ;  and  he  gathered  all 
together,  and  took  his  journey  into  a  far  country ;  and  tliere, 
instead  of  working,  as  he  meant  perhaps  originally  to  do,  he 
wasted  his.  substance  in  riotous  living;  and  the  result  of  it 
all  was,  "  when  he  had  spent  all,  there  arose  a  mighty  famine 
in  that  land."  He  could  not  help  that ;  he  could  not  foresee 
that ;  but  he  ought  instead  of  spending  all  to  have  been  pre- 
pared to  meet  the  famine ;  and  he  began  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life  to  be  in  want.  Well  now,  in  this  dilemma,  he 
must  either  lie  down  and  starve,  or  go  and  seek  employment. 
He  goes  and  joins  himself  to  a  citizen  of  that  far  distant 
country,  and  that  citizen  sent  him  to  do  what  of  all  things 
was  most  distasteful  to  a  Jew,  to  feed  swine.  His  hunger 
was  so  great,  his  occupation  so  menial,  that  "  he  would  fain 
have  filled  his  belly  with  the  husks  that  the  swine  did  eat." 
That  does  not  mean  the  husks  or  shells  of  beans  or  of  peas, 
but  really  a  distinct  fruit.  The  tree  is  called  in  Greek  by 
the  name  of  Carob-tree.  It  was  a  distinct  sort  of  fruit,  some- 
thing like  the  bean ;  it  is  a  very  wild  product,  found  in  the 
hedges,  not  very  nutritive,  and  not  very  agreeable  to  the 
taste.  Well,  he  would  fain  have  filled  his  belly  with  these 
husks,  and  he  could  not  find  enough  to  satisfy  his  hunger ; 
and  he  found  no  man  to  pity  him  or  to  give  him  any  thing. 
But  hunger,  destitution,  and  misery  made  him  contrast  the 
far  country  in  which  he  sojourned  with  the  beloved  home, 
the  roof-tree,  and  the  fireside  he  had  left,  and  he  recollected, 
"  How  many  hired  servants  of  my  father's  have  bread  enough 
and  to  spare,  and  I  perish  with  hunger."  Well,  he  instantly 
resolved.  This  must  not  be,  —  I  will  make  a  desperate  ex- 
periment ;  "  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father."  As  long  as 
that  relationship  endured,  and  he  had  the  sense  of  its  exist- 
ence, so  long  will  he  have  repentance  and  restoration.  "  I 
will  arise,  and  go  to  my  father,  and  I  Avill  say  imto  him, 
Father,  I  have  sinned  "  —  I  did  wrong  in  leaving  home,  I 
did  wrong  in  wasting  my  substance  in  riotous  living  —  "I 


LUKE    XV.  301 

have  sinned  aoainst  heaven  and  before  thee."     Now  there 
was  the  evidence  of  real  repentance.     As  long  as  a  man 
sees  sin  to  be  against  a  brother,  and  no  more,  there  is  no  re- 
pentance ;  but  when  he  sees  it  to  be  sin  against  a  brother, 
and  also  sin  against  God,  then  there  is  the  germ  and  the  ele- 
ment of  repentance.     Though  David  had  sinned  grievously 
against  man,  yet  he  said,  "  Against  thee,  thee  only,  have  I 
sinned."     And   that  is  a  very  important  distinction ;  and 
upsets  in  the  world  the  whole  dogma  of  man,  wdiether  priest 
or  Pope,  having  power  to  forgive  sins.     If  I  were  to  steal 
from  another  man,  I  should  do  two  things.     I  should  injure 
the  man  by  taking  his  property,  and  he  can  forgive  this  ;  but 
in  addition  there  would  be  the  sin  against  God,  whose  law  I 
have  broken  ;  and  God  alone  can  forgive  that.     Man  forgives 
the  injury  done  to  him,  but  God  alone  can  forgive  the  sin ; 
because  it  is  not  against  man,  but  it  is  against  God.     The 
prodigal  therefore  says,  "  I  have  sinned  against  heaven,  and 
before  thee,  and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son." 
Well,  he  arose  ;  he  Avas  not  satisfied  with  resolving,  as  many 
people,  or  as  Felix  did,  anticipating  a  convenient  season ; 
but  he  carried  into  practice  the  resolution  of  his  heart;  and 
he  arose  and  came.     It  does  not  say  he  ran  ;  I  dare  say  he 
w^ent  with   slow,  hesitating,  staggering  footstep,  sometimes 
thinkhig,  "  He  will  welcome  me  ;  "  at  other  times  thinking, 
"  If  he  refuse  to  receive  me,  he  will  only  treat  me  as  I  de- 
serve."    He  arose,  and  came  towards  his  father.     "But/' 
mark,  "  wdien  he  was  yet  a  great  Avay  oiF,"  some  miles  distant, 
"  his  father  saw  him."     Now  wliat  does  this  teach  us  ?    That 
the  father  was  on  the  roof  of  his  house,  sitting  like  Orientals 
in  eastern  lands,  and  looking  not  for  the  rising  cloud,  nor  the 
setting  'Sun,  but  for  that  one  about  whom  he  thought  more 
than  about  the  elder  son  that  was  at  home,  and  needed  no 
restoration.     That  is  an  exquisite  touch.     It  shows  that  the 
father  was  looking  for  the  prodigal,  before  the  prodigal  ever 

26 


302  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

thought  of  retuniing  to  the  father.  And  tlien  wc  read  — 
When  the  father  saw  him  "  a  great  way  oif."  At  lirst  he 
seemed  a  speck  in  the  distant  horizon  ;  gradually  that  speck 
assumed  the  aspect  and  the  shape  of  a  man  ;  by  and  by  there 
was  something  in  his  gait  and  walk,  (for  you  can  distinguish 
man,  so  remarkable  a  creature  is  he,  by  his  walk,  or  by  the 
very  movement  of  his  arm  ;  there  is  an  idiosyncrasy,  an  iden- 
tity that  can  be  detected  ever  from  the  walk  or  gait  of  any  per- 
son with  whom  you  are  acquainted,)  —  he  saw  the  figure  of 
a  man;  he  then  saw  something  in  his  gait  —  hngering  and 
loitering ;  sometimes  turning  round,  determined,  not  to  risk 
the  experiment  of  going  to  his  father's  home,  but  mustering 
heart  again  to  persevere  and  hope,  and  hope  and  persevere  ; 
and  the  father  at  last  was  convinced  that  it  was  doubtless  his 
own  prodigal  son,  after  whom  he  had  looked  at  morning 
dawn  and  at  evening  twilight,  beginning  to  find  his  way 
home.  In  opposition  to  the  son  who  came,  the  father,  it  is 
said,  "  ran."  "  When  he  was  a  great  way  off,  he  had  com- 
passion, and  ran,  and  fell  upon  his  neck,  and  kissed  him." 
The  son  said  to  him,  "  Father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven 
and  before  thee,  and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy 
son."  But  he  saw  in  the  paternal  heart  such  compassion ; 
in  the  father's  reception  such  love,  that  he  stopped  short  in 
his  resolution.  His  original  resolution  was,  "  Father,  I  have 
sinned  against  heaven,  and  before  thee,  and  am  no  more 
worthy  to  be  called  thy  son :  make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired 
servants."  But  when  he  found  in  his  father  more  than  he 
anticipated,  he  leaves  out  the  last  clause,  as  if  there  were  no 
necessity  for  it ;  and  says,  "  I  am  not  worthy  to  be  called  thy 
son."  Or  the  father  stops  him  in  the  midst  of  his  confession ; 
too  thankful  that  the  prodigal  son  had  retui-ned  ;  and  says  to 
the  servants,  "  Bring  forth  the  best  robe,  and  put  it  on  him ; 
and  put  a  ring  on  his  hand,  and  shoes  on  his  feet :  and  bring 
hither  the  fatted  calf,  and  kill  it;  and  let  us  eat,  and  be 


LUKE    XV.  303 

merry :  for  this  my  son  "  —  tlie  language  of  adoption  — 
"  was  dead,  and  is  alive  again  ;  he  was  lost,  and  is  fomid. 
And,"  very  properly,  "  they  began  to  be  merry." 

Let  me  now  tell  the  most  profligate  prodigal  that  reads  or 
hears  these  things,  that  God  is  far  more  interested  in  his  re- 
turn than  any  language  of  mine  etui  express ;  that  at  this 
moment  God  is  looking  out  for  him  to  arise,  and  come  to 
his  father's  house  ;  and  this  very  night  there  is  for  the  worst 
and  the  vilest,  all  the  shelter  and  reception  of  a  Father's 
bosom,  all  the  sympathy  of  a  Father's  heart,  the  complete 
forgiveness  of  sin  —  so  complete  that  it  will  be  mentioned  no 
more  against  you.  The  forgiveness  was  so  instant,  that  the 
father  does  not  stop  to  pronounce  it ;  but  bids  all  rejoice  with 
him  that  he  has  come  back. 

The  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  that  is,  the  elder  son  was  in 
the  field ;  "  and  as  he  came  and  drew  nigh  to  the  house,  he 
heard  music  and  dancing."  These  were  the  ancient  expres- 
sions of  joy  ;  and  there  was  no  sin  in  these ;  sin  is  not  nec- 
essarily in  music ;  it  is  not  inevitable  in  dancing.  But  the 
excitement,  the  envy,  the  jealousy,  that  balls  originate,  the 
dissipation,  the  frivolity,  and  the  destruction  of  every  serious 
and  solemn  thought,  are,  I  fear,  so  common,  as  to  be  nearly 
inseparable.  There  is  no  more  sin  in  moving  the  foot  than 
in  moving  the  tongue  ;  the  sin  lies  in  the  dissipation  of  mind 
to  which  indulgence  in  dancing  leads.  Dancing  and  music 
were  ancient  expressions  of  joy,  and  they  are  here  mentioned 
without  being  condemned  by  our  Blessed  Lord.  We  read  in 
the  Book  of  Proverbs,  "  There  is  a  time  to  dance."  I  have 
not  yet  been  able  to  find  out  the  time ;  but  perhaps  some  one 
can.  It  is  a  very  proper  inquiry.  I  find  there  are  so  many 
more  solemn  and  important  things  to  attend  to,  that  I  never 
yet  discovered  the  time  to  wliich  Solomon  certainly  does 
refer  —  "There  is  a  time  to  dance."  When  the  elder  son 
heard  it,  "  he  called  one  of  the  servants."  Why  did  he  not 
go  into   his  father's   house?     Because  he  knew  what  had 


304  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

taken  place  ;  and  instead  of  going  into  his  father's  house,  and 
asking  in  a  manly  Avaj,  "  Wiiat  has  happened  that  has  made 
you  all  so  merry  ?  "  he  calls  secretly  one  of  the  servants,  and 
asks  in  a  surly  temper  Avhat  these  things  meant.  Then  the 
servant,  knowing  nothing  of  the  higher  import  of  the  thing,  but 
only  judging  of  what  the  eyes  could  see,  said,  "  Thy  brother 
is  come,  and  thy  father  hath  killed  the  fatted  calf,  because  he 
hath  received  him  safe  and  sound,"  —  he  has  no  wounds,  his 
body  is  not  diseased,  he  is  restored  "  safe  and  sound."  He 
could  not  see  the  inner  spiritual  import  of  the  story,  he  could 
only  see  the  outer  fact  that  the  son  was  safe  and  sound,  and 
that  the  father  was  very  happy  to  receive  him  back  again. 
One  would  have  thought  the  elder  brother  would  have  gone 
in,  and  congratulated  his  father ;  but  instead  of  that,  he  is 
filled  with  envy,  and  hatred,  and  malice,  and  all  unchari- 
tableness ;  and  this  is  your  case  and  my  case,  and  you  all 
know  it;  there  have  been  instances  in  your  history,  how- 
ever much  you  may  deplore  them,  that  are  exact  illustrations 
and  examples  of  the  elder  brother  being  angry.  "  He  would 
not  go  in,"  and  enjoy  the  good  music  and  the  excellent  feast, 
to  which  he  was  cordially  welcome :  "  Therefore  came  his 
father  out,"  —  how  beautiful !  "  The  elder  son  would  not  go 
in,  "  therefore  came  his  father  out  and  intreated  him ; "  as  if  he 
had  said.  Why  be  so  angry?  it  is  your  own  brother  that  has 
come  back.  "  And  he  answering  said  to  his  father,  Lo,  these 
many  years  do  I  serve  thee ;  neither  transgressed  I  at  any 
time  thy  commandment,"  —  this  probably  was  false  :  —  "  and 
yet  thou  never  gavest  me  a  kid,  that  I  might  make  merry  with 
my  friends:  but  as  soon  as  this  thy  son" — just  mark  the 
wickedness  that  breaks  out :  he  does  not  say,  "  my  brother," 
but  "  this  thy  son."  You  know  that  in  the  Latin  language  the 
word  ille  is  used  in  the  sense  of  respect,  and  iste  to  express 
contempt ;  —  "as  soon  as  this  thy  son,"  thy  unworthy  son, 
"  was  come,  which  hath  devoured  thy.  living  "  —  he  did  no 
such  thing  —  "  with  harlots  "  —  of  which  there  is  no  account, 


LUKE   XV.  305 

—  "  thou  hast  killed  for  him  the  fatted  calf."  But  how  beau- 
tifully and  meekly  the  father  answers  him  !  as  if  he  had 
said,  Son,  why  should  you  complain  ?  You  have  got  still 
three  fourths  of  the  property  ;  he  got  the  other  fourth,  which 
he  chose  to  squander ;  you  say  you  have  not  done  so ;  well, 
I  am  not  disputing  that.  Besides,  my  son,  thou  art  ever 
with  me,  "  and  all  that  I  have  is  thine."  There  is  nothing 
that  you  have  to  complain  of  in  my  treatment  of  you,  and 
surely  "it  was  meet  that  we  should  make  merry,  and  be 
glad  ;  for  this  thy  brother,'^  —  not  "  my  son ; "  but  "  this  thy 
brother,"  —  no  rebukes  are  so  sharp  as  those  that  are  gentle  ; 
the  arrow  that  is  feathered  with  love  penetrates  the  deepest ; 
and  those  rebukes  that  are  couched  in  soft  words  always 
strike  hardest,  —  "  for  this  thy  brother  was  dead,  and  is  alive 
again ;  and  was  lost,  and  is  found." 

Who  could  have  written  these  exquisite  tales?  Show 
me  now  any  passage  in  ancient  or  in  modern  writings  that 
come  within  a  thousand  miles  of  this  sublime,  this  sim- 
ple, this  magnificent,  this  instructive  chapter.  Visibly,  it 
bears  the  impress  of  its  Author.  It  is  the  inspiration  of 
God. 

26* 


CHAPTER    XV.    32. 

MEET  EEJOICIXG  —  OUR  NATrRAL  STATE  —  INTELLECT  ECLIPSED  — 
INFLUENCE  OF  DEPRAVITY  ON  MIND  —  CONSCIENCE  —  SPIRITUAL 
DEATH  —  GOOD  NEWS  FROM  THE  NORTH  POLE  —  THE  LOST 
FOUND  DEAD  ALIVE JOY  ABOVE  AND  BELOW. 

The  father  very  justly  adds,  "  It  was  meet  tliat  we  should 
make  merry,  and  be  glad :  for  this  thy  brother  was  dead, 
and  is  alive  again  ;  and  was  lost,  and  is  found."  It  was 
meet  that  we  should  be  merry ;  it  was  according  to  all  the 
analogies  of  nature ;  it  is  based  upon  the  finest  instincts  of 
the  heart ;  that  on  such  a  glad  and  happy  occasion  as  the 
recovery  of  the  lost,  the  requickening  of  the  dead,  we  should 
make  merry ;  and  when  that  dead  one  quickened,  that  lost 
one  found,  was  a  brother,  surely  it  was  not  unreasonable  to 
expect  that  your  voice  should  ring  loudest  and  merriest  of 
all,  and  that  the  common  home  should  resound  with  your 
congratulations ;  that  a  brother,  your  own,  was  lost,  and  is 
found ;  was  dead,  and  is  alive. 

But  the  passage  is  a  just  portrait  of  man's  state  by  na- 
ture —  lost  and  dead  ;  man's  state,  the  obverse,  by  grace  — 
recovered  and  alive;  and  then  the  truths  that  are  naturally 
suggested  by  so  remarkable  a.contrast.  First,  then,  we  see 
man's  state  by  nature.  The  first  characteristic  of  it  is,  that 
he  is  lost.  This  is  applied  to  the  loss  of  character,  the  loss 
of  property,  the  loss  of  friends.  The  salt  has  lost  its  savor, 
and  it  is  wortliless ;  the  sheep  has  lost  its  w^ay  home  to  the 
fold,  and  it  will  be  destroyed.     The  prodigal  has  lost  his 

(306) 


LUKE  XV.  307 

home,  and  all  its  shelter,  and  the  approval  of  his  father; 
and  is  a  lost  character  in  the  midst  of  a  strange  and  a  fam- 
ished land.  All  this  is  the  picture  of  man  —  a  lost  soul ; 
lost  in  this  world ;  born  so,  not  subsequently  made  so ;  for 
Adam  left  his  home,  and  we  left  it  with  him  :  as  long  as  the 
lost  soul  is  in  this  world,  so  long  it  is  within  the  reach  of 
recovery ;  but  as  soon  as  it  passes  the  boundary  line  that 
separates  the  world  of  means  from  the  great  world  of  re- 
sults, lost  there,  it  is  lost  forever  —  irretrievably,  without 
hope  of  restoration.  Now  this  is  the  picture  of  us  all  by 
nature,  and  in  this  loss  every  faculty  of  man  has  shared. 
One  needs  not  Scripture  to  tell  us  that  we  have  suffered 
some  terrible  disaster.  You  judge  of  the  history  of  a  house 
that  has  been  shattered  by  the  lightning,  by  seeing  its  ruins  ; 
you  can  be  under  no  mistake  that  it  has  been  thus  demol- 
ished and  destroyed.  You  judge  of  the  wreck  by  the  torn 
and  the  shattered  timbers  washed  ashore ;  and  we  naturally 
judge  that  man  has  undergone  some  great  disaster,  from  the 
dilapidated,  devastated,  and  dismantled  condition  in  which 
you  find  all  the  faculties  of  his  mind,  all  the  affections  of 
his  heart,  his  inner  and  his  outer  nature.  Let  us  view  man's 
intellect,  for  instance.  Powerful  as  it  is,  it  is  not  what  it 
once  was.  There  are  remaininof  traits  of  its  original  jxreat- 
ness,  that  are  unmistakable;  but  these  are  too  often  the 
warning  and  memorials  also  of  its  terrible  eclipse.  The 
intellect  of  man  is  powerful  in  discussing  a  mathematical 
problem,  in  counting  up  a  sum  in  arithmetic,  especially 
when  the  result  will  be  the  individual's  own  profit ;  but  that 
same  intellect  seems  to  lose  its  power  the  instant  that  it 
comes  within  the  limits  of  the  moral  or  the  spiritual. 
Where,  for  instance,  is  there  an  intellect  so  capable  of  ap- 
preciating logic  up  to  a  certain  point  as  that  of  the  matlie- 
matician ;  but  if  you  try  to  convince  him  of  th^  folly  and 
the  wickedness  of  his  sins,  his  intellect  then  ceases  to 
reason  rightly,  and  goes  wrong;  the  philosopher  reasons 


308  '     SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

rightly  enough  up  to  a  certain  point,  but  when  the  subject 
of  his  reasoning  is  the  condemnation  of  his  sin,  and  the 
necessity  for  his  abjuration  of  it,  his  intellect  then  seems 
shorn  of  its  strength,  and  to  have  lost  its  original  and  its 
primal  greatness  ;  but  especially  when  his  intellect  concludes 
in  one  way,  and  all  his  passions  rise  like  rebellious  subjects, 
and  insist  upon  his  disobedience  to  the  soul,  which  is  press- 
ing the  opposite  way.  Intellect,  in  such  a  conflict,  proves  it 
has  lost  its  power,  for  instead  of  being  the  sovereign  that 
sways  the  sceptre  within,  it  presents  itself  the  miserable 
citizen  king  put  up  and  put  down  by  the  puppet  passions, 
when  it  pleases  them  to  enthrone  or  to  depose  him.  The 
heart  and  the  moral  faculty  have  also  much  to  do  with  the 
vigor  or  weakness  of  the  intellect.  I  do  not  believe  that  an 
intellect  originally  powerful  will  long  continue  so  if  it  be 
surrounded  by  the  fogs,  and  damps,  and  miasma  of  a  de- 
praved and  degenerate  heart.  There  have  been  brilliant 
wits  who  have  been  intensely  depraved ;  but  a  powerful 
intellect,  striking  out  grand  results,  has  rarely  been  accom- 
panied by  a  depraved,  an  abandoned,  and  a  corrupt  life. 
Byron's  genius,  originally  so  great,  declined  precisely  as  his 
profligacy  increased.  You  will  still  find,  as  a  general  rule, 
that  notwithstanding  apparent  exceptions,  it  is  only  in  the 
atmosphere  of  a  pure  heart  that  the  lamp  of  genius  can 
burn  most  brilliantly.  It  is  only  in  the  soil  of  a  sanctified 
nature  that  genius  can  attain  its  greatest  ripeness,  and  bear 
its  most  beautiful  and  most  perfect  fruits.  And  if  this  may 
have  exceptions  in  the  case  of  individuals,  it  has  none  in 
the  case  of  nations.  The  instant  that  Rome  became  de- 
praved in  its  morals  under  the  last  of  the  Ccesars,  that 
moment  it  ceased  to  create  magnificent  warriors,  or  to 
achieve  great  conquests,  or  to  take  a  leading  place  amidst 
the  natiofis  of  the  earth,  for  intellectual  preeminence  and 
national  attainments.  And  at  this  moment  we  shall  find 
that  the  genius  of  a  nation  is  displayed  precisely  in  the  ratio 


LUKE   XV.  309 

of  the  purity  of  the  national  creed.  In  Tuscany,  for  in- 
stance, in  Sardinia,  in  Italy,  in  Spain,  the  people  that  are 
above  the  soil,  are  in  intellect  scarcely  superior  to  the  dead 
that  slumber  beneath  it ;  Avhereas,  in  America,  in  Great 
Britain,  and  Germany,  and  in  every  country  wherever  there 
is  cherished  a  pure  faith,  and  breathed  the  air  of  true  free- 
dom, the  result  of  that  faith,  the  necessary  effect  of  an  open 
Bible,  genius  attains  its  culminating  greatness,  its  noblest 
trophies  may  be  gathered,  and  man,  intellectually  and  mor- 
ally, seems  most  to  approximate  to  what  he  once  was,  and  is 
meant  to  be,  in  the  promises  and  purposes  of  God. 

In  the  next  place,  man  not  only  gives  evidence  of  injury 
in  his  intellect,  but  also  in  his  conscience.  Man's  conscience 
has  suffered  a  grievous  collapse.  I  know  no  faculty  in  man 
that  more  distinguishes  him  from  the  brute  creation  than 
conscience.  Intellect  does  not  so  much  distinguish  him. 
Some  of  the  instincts  of  the  dog,  the  elephant,  and  the  horse, 
approximate  to  intellect;  but  in  none  of  these  creatures 
does  there  seem  to  be  that  sublime  and  awful  power  —  the 
moral  faculty  and  the  conscience ;  reasoning  in  a  monarch's 
bosom  and  under  a  peasant's  rags,  of  righteousness,  and 
temperance,  and  judgment.  But  that  conscience,  though  it 
still  lasts  and  lives,  is  shorn  of  its  primitive  greatness.  In 
some  cases  it  casts  its  dark  shadow  over  all  the  joys  and 
happiness  of  the  transgressor,  but  it  has  not  power  to  repress 
his  transgression ;  in  the  other  case  it  is  silenced,  or  over- 
powered, by  the  passions,  and  shorn  of  its  ancient  reality ; 
and  like  a  precious  jcAyel  is  trodden  under  the  feet  of  those 
swine,  unable  to  recover  itself.  In  another  case  conscience 
is  perverted  to  a  side,  and  becomes  the  patron  and  ally  of 
the  very  sins  and  crimes  it  was  intended  to  rebuke ;  in  an- 
other case  it  forces  men  to  plunge  into  infidelity,  the  one  ex- 
treme, or  to  rush  into  superstition,  the  other  extreme  ;  feebly 
protesting,  at  last  laid  prostrate,  and  left  without  splendor, 
without   sovereignty  —  a   drudge,    a   serf — an   intoxicated 


310  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

slave  —  until  the  hour  of  deatli  comes,  when  its  sensibilities 
are  restored,  its  dead  powers  are  quickened,  and  it  reasons, 
with  piercing  and  agonizing  terror,  of  righteousness,  and 
temperance,  and  judgment  to  come.  Man  has  lost  his  friend- 
ship with  God,  and  has  become  his  foe ;  he  has  lost  his  com- 
panionship with  God,  and  he  has  become  a  stranger.  He 
has  lost  the  glorious  image  of  God,  and  he  is  altogether  des- 
olate. He  is  the  stray  sheep,  he  is  the  lost  coin  ;  he  is  the 
prodigal  who  has  wasted  his  grand  faculties,  his  noble  feel- 
ings, his  sublime  nature,  in  riotous  Hving ;  feeding  upon  the 
very  husks  that  the  swine  do  eat,  and  still  more  terrible, 
coming  to  the  conclusion,  as  some  have  done  —  that  man 
was  made  to  feed  on  husks,  that  there  is  no  better  home 
than  a  swine  sty,  and  no  nobler  employment  than  feeding 
swine,  no  better  food  than  the  husks  that  swine  do  eat.  But 
human  nature  will  not  long  believe  this  even  in  its  greatest 
degeneracy;  it  has  within  it  strong  and  irrepressible  pre- 
sentiments that  there  is  a  home,  and  a  Father,  and  a  wel- 
come there,  if  it  will  arise,  and  go  to  its  Father's  house,  and 
seek  bread  to  eat,  raiment  to  put  on,  and  a  shelter  from  the 
winds  and  rains  of  heaven. 

Such  is  the  first  characteristic  of  man  —  lost. 

Secondly,  he  is  described  as  also  dead.  A  lost  thing  may 
be  recovered  by  man  ;  a  dead  thing  cannot  be  requickened 
by  man.  The  lost  sinner  would  only  convey  the  idea  of 
something  that  might  turn  up  again ;  but  a  dead  sinner  con- 
veys the  idea  of  a  fatal  collapse,  of  utter  extinction,  of  a  con- 
dition irrecoverable  by  human  means,  or  by  human  power. 
And  is  not  death  just  the  picture  of  the  sinner,  living  in  a 
strange  land,  w^ithout  God  and  without  hope :  dead  to  the 
hopes  of  heaven,  dead  to  the  fears  of  hell,  dead  to  the  joys  of 
true  religion,  dead  to  every  remonstrance  of  Providence,  of 
conscience,  of  the  Bible,  and  of  God.  Eloquent  sermons  do 
not  stir  him ;  fervid  appeals  do  not  awaken  him.  What 
music  is  to  the  ear  of  a  deaf  man,  what  a  splendid  pano- 


LUKE    XV.  811 

rama  is  to  tlie  eyes  of  a  blind  man,  tliat  heaven,  the  sOul, 
God,  Clirist,  eternity,  are  all  to  liim  who  is  dead  in  trespass- 
es and  in  sins.  He  cannot  appreciate  them,  he  does  not 
study  them  ;  he  needs  a  breath  to  pass  over  him  —  the 
breath  of  life' —  before  he  can  arise,  and  feel,  and  be  made 
again  a  living  and  a  reasonable  man. 

These  two  epithets  are  the  two  characteristic  expressions 
—  differing  not  in  kind,  but  in  degree  —  of  man  in  his  lost 
and  dead  condition.  And  who  is  this  creature,  thus  lost, 
thus  dead  ?  Child,  he  may  be  thy  parent ;  parent,  he  may 
be  thy  child ;  neighbor,  he  is  next  to  thee.  It  is  not  the 
ocean  that  separates  thee  from  the  dead,  but  a  thin  partition 
wall.  That  ragged,  wretched,  miserable  outcast  once  had 
engraved  upon  his  brow  the  impress  of  a  God ;  he  is  now 
lost  —  dead  ;  he  is  thy  brother,  notwithstanding ;  and  in  his 
heart  there  are  the  hopes  and  affections  of  a  son  ;  and  thou 
art  —  not  surely  a  Cain,  asking,  "  Am  I  my  brother's  keep- 
er ?  "  or  a  miserable  Pharisee  —  "  This  thy  son  "  —  but,  I 
trust,  a  Christian,  quickened  thyself,  and  rejoicing ;  and 
longing  to  see  quickened  and  recovered  also  the  most  wick- 
ed and  the  worst  of  mankind,  as  "  this  thy  brother." 

But  see  the  obverse  of  the  picture.  He  was  lost,  he  is 
now  found;  he  was  dead,  he  is  now  alive;  God  so  loved 
that  creature  in  his  ruin,  so  pitied  that  poor  prodigal  in  his 
apostasy,  that  he  resolved  to  do  whatever  justice,  love,  truth, 
mercy,  omnipotence  could  do  in  order  to  restore  and  to  re- 
cover him  in  spite  of  his  sins,  that  he  sent  his  only  begotten 
Son  to  ransom  him  by  his  blood :  he  so  loves  him  still  that 
he  sends  to  him  apostles,  evangelists,  missionaries,  ministers, 
all  constituting  God's  embassy,  in  pursuit  of  "the  lost  —  point- 
ing to  the  Saviour  that  will  kindle  again  the  extinct  embers 
of  life  in.  the  bosom  of  the  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins. 
And  wherever  there  is  the  least  response,  wherever  there  is 
the  least  pulse  of  life,  that  is  evidence  of  an  influence  first 
from  above.     The   first  movement  is  from  heaven.     The 


312  SCRIPTURE     READINGS. 

poor  prodigal  would  probably  have  never  reached  his  fath- 
er's house  if  the  father  had  not  run  out  while  he  was  yet  a 
great  way  oiF,  and  embraced  him,  and  bade  him  welcome 
home.  The  least  pul<e  at  the  wrist  is  the  evidence  of  a 
heart  in  the  background  ;  the  least  j^roof  of  love,  of  light,  of 
life  in  the  soul,  is  the  evidence  of  its  connection  and  com- 
munion with  the  Fountain  of  life,  and  light,  and  power  — 
that  is,  God.  No  obscurity  in  which  the  coin  may  be  placed 
will  conceal  it  from  God's  eye  ;  no  aberration  to  which  the 
soul  can  go,  will  prevent  God  going  after  it.  Nay  —  as  re- 
cently discovered  —  those  lost,  almost  forsaken  outposts  of 
humanity  whose  region  is  the  Polar  realms,  the  haunt  of  the 
white  bear,  the  whale,  and  the  seal  —  these  have  just  been 
discovered  in  answer  to  the  pursuit  of  two  hundred  years, 
in  order  that  the  day  at  last  may  come  when  this  prophecy 
shall  be  literally  fulfilled  — "  This  Gospel  of  the  kingdom 
shall  be  preached  to  all  nations,  and  then  shall  the  end 
come."  Do  you  think  that  two  hundred  years'  pursuit  of 
the  North  Pole  was  merely  the  inspiration  of  a  crotchet  of 
man  ?  It  was  an  inspiration  from  God ;  it  was  the  Shep- 
herd making  the  road  smooth  for  his  ministers  to  go  after 
the  lost  sheep  that  are  there ;  it  was  the  Father  looking  out 
for  his  frozen  prodigals  shivering  there ;  it  was  the  woman 
seeking  the  coin  buri.ed  amid  perpetual  snow ;  to  show  that 
there  is  no  aberration  to  which  man  can  travel,  Christ  wiU 
not  enter  ;  no  depth  into  which  man  can  sink,  that  love  will 
not  descend  to.  And,  perhaps,  when  quoting  that  case,  you 
will  pardon  me  if  I  mention  an  instance  that  was  to  me 
most  gratifying.  One  who  has  been  in  those  regions,  suc- 
cessfully pursuing  what  has  now  been  discovered,  writes  me 
a  note  which  is  most  gratifying  to  me  ;  I  received  it  only 
this  morning,  in  the  vestry.  He  belongs  to  H.  M.  ship 
"  Phoenix,"  the  ship  which  brought  her  despatches  from  the 
"  Investigator,"  announcing  the  discovery  of  the  north-west 
passage.     The  officer  who  writes  me  tells  me  that  he  read 


LUKE    XV.  313 

the  various  volumes  I  have  published,  during  the  long  Polar 
nights,  to  the  assembled  crew  —  in  which  crew  was  the  late 
Lieut.  Bellot,  so  justly  commemorated  by  our  nation  —  and 
that  to  many  a  soul  in  that  crew  the  truths  and  words  you 
have  heard  from  this  pulpit,  were  signally  blessed.  How 
interesting  that  voices  uttered  in  London,  have  been  break- 
ing in  glad  music  around  the  Pole. 

It  is  to  me  intensely  interesting  and  encouraging  to  find 
that  some  simple  truths  that  have  been  preached,  have  found 
their  way  to  the  realms  of  perpetual  snow ;  and  that  while 
preaching  to  you  in  this  more  favored  latitude,  some  of  those 
sermons  have  been  preached,  unknown  to  me,  to  those  who 
had  no  other  truths  to  hear  equally  interesting  or  instructive ; 
and  they,  amid  the  regions  of  snow,  have  proved  that  God 
the  Spirit  is  at  the  Xorth  Po^p  as  well  as  the  Equator,  and 
can  bless  the'  woi-ds  spoken  there  as  truly  as  under  the  roof 
of  grand  cathedrals,  or  in  the  midst  of  crowded  and  interested 
congregations. 

We  have  seen  man  lost  and  man  found,  man  dead  and 
man  alive  —  alive  to  God.  The  intellect  is  emancipated  by 
grace  ;  the  heart,  renewed,  loves  what  once  it  hated ;  and 
all  things  become  new  and  beautiful  without,  when  this 
change  is  produced  upon  the  sinner  within. 

Now,  says  the  father,  with  great  good  sense,  at  seeing 
such  a  transformation,  it  is  meet  that  we  should  be  merry. 
If  even  we  have  no  personal  interest  in  the  knowledge,  re- 
joice surely  we  should.  A  soul  saved,  rescued  from  ruin, 
is  a  recovery  so  magnificent  that  the  triumj^hs  of  Waterloo 
and  of  Trafalgar  sink  into  insignificance  in  comparison  of  the 
bloodless  victory  of  a  soul  snatched  from  death,  and  intro- 
duced into  everlasting  life. 

We  should  rejoice,  for  it  is  a  soul  rescued  from  ruin,  in- 
troduced into  heaven.  One  soul  added  to  the  realms  of 
glory  is  abundant  reason  for  all  heaven  rejoicing  ;  surely  it 
is  enough  for  us.  Satan  has  lost  a  victim ;  we  hate  Satan, 
27 


314  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

he  is  not  our  neighbor,  we  may  desire  his  destruction. 
We  love  our  God,  we  love  our  neighbor ;  Satan  and  sin,  and 
his  triumphs  and  his  success,  we  do  right  to  deprecate,  to 
resist,  and  to  deplore.  Every  soul  that  is  saved  is  an  ear- 
nest of  that  day  when  all  shall  know  the  Lord,  when  Jesus 
shall  see  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied ;  and  there- 
fore it  is  well  we  should  be  merry. 

If  you  rejoice  at  a  nation  rescued  from  destruction,  at  a 
city  saved  from  the  sword,  at  a  people  delivered  from  pes- 
tilence, at  a  family  rescued  from  death  —  oh !  surely  it  is 
meet,  it  is  duty,  it  is  nature,  it  is  grace,  that  we  should  re- 
joice and  be  glad  when  a  lost  soul  is  found,  and  a  dead 
one  is  made  alive  ;  for  there  is  joy  in  heaven  —  strange  if 
there  should  be  none  on  earth. 


Note.  —  Avo  vlovc.  Not,  in  any  direct  sense  of  the  parable,  the 
Jews  and  the  Gentiles.  That  there  may  be  a  partial  application  to 
this  effect,  is  only  owing  to  the  parable  grasping  the  great  central  tniths, 
of  which  the  Jew  and  Gentile  were,  in  their  relation,  illustrations,  — 
and  of  which  such  illustrations  are  furnished  wherever  such  differences 
occur.  The  two  parties  standing  in  the  foreground  of  the  parabolic 
mirror  are  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  as  the  elder  son  ;  the  publicans 
and  sinners,  as  the  younger — all  Jews,  all  belonging  to  God's  family. 
The  mystery  of  the  admission  of  the  Gentiles  into  God's  church  was 
not  yet  made  known  in  any  such  manner  as  that  they  should  be  rep- 
resented as  of  one  fiimily  with  the  Jews  :  not  to  mention  that  this  in- 
terpretation fails  in  the  very  root  of  the  parable  —  for  in  strictness  the 
Gentile  should  be  the  elder,  the  Jcav  not  being  constituted  in  his  su- 
periority till  2,000  years  after  the  creation.  The  upholders  of  this  in- 
terpretation forget  that  when  we  speak  of  the  Jew  as  elder,  and  the 
Gentile  as  younger,  it  is  in  respect,  not  of  tmth,  but  of  this  very  re- 
tui-n  to,  and  reception,  into  the  Father's  house,  which  is  not  to  be  con- 
sidered ;  yet  the  relations  of  elder  and  younger  have  a  pecuUar  fitness 
for  the  characters  to  be  filled  by  them,  and  are,  I  believe,  chosen  on 
that  account. 

We  may  remark  that  the  difficulties  which  have  been  found  in  the 


LUKE    XV.  315 

latter  part  of  the  parable,  from  the  uncontradicted  assertion  in  verse  29, 
if  the  Pharisees  are  meant,  and  the  great  pride  and  uncharitableness 
showTi,  if  really  righteous  persons  arc  meant,  are  considerably  light- 
ened by  the  consideration,  that  the  contradiction  of  that  assertion  would 
have  been  beside  the  purpose  of  the  parable,  —  that  it  was  the  very 
thing  on  which  the  Pharisees  prided  themselves,  —  tliat  besides,  it  is 
sufficiently  contradicted,  in  fact,  by  the  spirit  and  words  of  the  elder 
son.  He  was  breaking  his  father's  commandment  even  when  he  made 
the  assertion;  and  the  making  it  is  a  part  of  his  hypocrisy.  (See 
Trench,  Par.  pp.  374-376.)  The  result  of  the  father's  entreaty  is  left 
purposely  uncertain  :  is  it  possible  that  this  should  have  been  the  case 
had  the  Jewish  nation  been  meant  by  the  elder  brother?  But  now  as 
he  typifies  a  set  of  individuals  who  might  themselves  be  (and  many  of 
them  were)  won  by  repentance,  it  is  thus  broken  off  to  be  closed  by 
each  individual  for  himself;  for  we  are  all  in  turn  examples  of  the 
cases  of  both  these  brothers,  containing  the  seeds  of  both  evil  courses 
in  our  hearts  ;  but,  thanks  be  to  God,  under  that  grace  wliich  is  suffi- 
cient and  willing  to  seek  and  save  us  both.  —  Alford. 


CHAPTEE    XVI. 

THE  UNJUST  STEWARD — THE  CHILDREN  OF  THIS  AGE — THE  MAIN 
THING USE  OF  MAMMON RECEPTION  IN  GLORY TWO  MAS- 
TERS  THE  RICH  MAN  AND  LAZARUS RICH  AND  POOR THEIR 

DUTIES  —  PRAYER   TO    SAINTS  —  MIRACLES  —  THEIR   EFFECT. 

The  first  parable  recorded  in  the  chapter  we  have  read, 
is  called  by  the  name  of  the  parable  of  the  unjust  steward ; 
one  that  has  given  rise  to  great  misapprehension,  and  to 
some  misinterpretation.  You  need  only  have  it  fairly  and 
impartially  set  before  you,  in  order  to  see  that  it  is  as  clearly 
consistent  with  moral  duty  as  it  is  instructive  in  the  prac- 
tices and  duties  that  we  owe  to  God  and  to  mankind. 

It  appears  that  a  certain  rich  landlord,  or  the  possessor  of 
large  property,  had  a  steward,  to  whom  was  committed  the 
management  of  his  estates,  and  whose  place  and  duty  it  was 
to  render  his  master  statedly  an  account  of  all  the  moneys 
that  he  had  received,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  all  the  dis- 
bursements that  he  had  justly  and  dutifully  made,  upon  the 
other.  Rumors  reached  the  ear  of  the  master — ^and  not 
mere  rumors,  but  information  based  upon  truth  —  that  the 
steward  had  been  living  inconsistently  with  his  position, 
wasting  his  master's  property,  and  acting  dishonestly. 
Whenever  you  see  a  man  living  above  the  position  that 
justly  becomes  him  in  the  providence  of  God,  and  is  con- 
sistent with  his  station,  you  will  be  tempted  to  infer  (and  it 
is  not  always  uncharitable  to  do  so)  that  the  means  that  en- 
able him  to  do  this  are  not  justly  and  legitimately  come  by. 

(316) 


LUKE    XVI.  317 

Wherever  one  lives  and  acts  honestly,  he  will  always  live 
consistently.  To  live  too  much  below  your  position  is  often 
the  conduct  of  a  miser ;  to  live  beyond  it  is  the  practice  of  a 
dishonest  man  ;  to  live  in  that  state  in  which  God  has  placed 
us  —  discharging  all  its  duties,  fulfilling  all  its  responsibilities, 
liberal  to  the  poor,  and  responding  to  the  claims  of  true  re- 
ligion —  is  what  becomes  a  Christian  man  in  the  sight  of 
God,  and  of  the  rest  of  mankind. 

This  steward,  as  soon  as  he  was  detected,  like  most  rogues, 
showed  he  was  possessed  of  very  great  cunning ;  and  he 
turned  this  cunning  to  very  effective  account;  he  said  to 
himself,  "  I  cannot  dig "  —  I  have  not  been  accustomed  to 
labor,  my  muscles  would  not  stand  it ;  I  am  not  a  skilled 
laborer,  so  as  to  be  able  to  earn  what  others  can  earn  —  it  is 
quite  plain,  therefore,  I  cannot  dig,  or  work  with  my  hands. 
There  was  also  a  little  mixture  in  his  reasoning  of  "  I  would 
not  like  to  dig ; "  and,  in  the  next  place,  "  to  beg,"  also,  "  I 
am  ashamed."  I  do  not  like  to  descend  from  a  high  pinna- 
cle at  once,  and  to  become  a  public  and  notorious  beggar. 
Well,  he  set  his  wits  to  work,  and,  Satan  helping  him,  he 
struck  out  a  plan  stamped  by  great  ingenuity,  though,  like 
most  plans  that  rogues  and  thieves  attempt,  not  character- 
ized by  any  very  great  honesty.  He  says  to  himself,  "  This 
is  what  I  will  do :  —  in  order  that  I  may  be  received  by 
others,  as  soon  as  I  am  turned  out  of  my  situation,  and 
feasted,  and  kept  in  comfortable  circumstances ;  I  will  make 
friends  by  turning  all  I  can  scrape  together  of  my  master's 
property  to  my  own  selfish  purposes;"  and  therefore  the 
plan  he  adopted  was  this  :  "  He  called  every  one  of  his  lord's 
debtors  unto  him,  and  said  unto  the  first.  How  much  owest 
thou  unto  my  lord  ?  "  I  dare  say  he  said  with  regret,  "  An 
hundred  measures  of  oil ;  I  shall  have  very  great  difliiculty 
in  paying  it ;  I  wish  I  did  not  owe  so  much  ;  but  I  must  pay 
it."  "  Well,"  the  steward  said,  "  I  will  manage  it  for  you  ; 
you  take  the  document,  and  write  down  fifty,  and  then  you 
27* 


318  SCllirTLRE    READINGS. 

will  have  to  give  the  master  fifty,  and  I  do  not  ask  you  to 
give  me  the  other;  but  you  understand,  if  I  am  in  Avant,  you 
will  relieve  my  necessities."  "  Then  said  he  to  another,  And 
how  much  owest  thou  ?  and  he  said.  An  hundred  measures 
of  wheat ;  and  he  said  unto  him,  Take  thy  bill,  and  write 
fourscore ; "  and  the  second  was  very  glad  to  close  with  the 
proposal,  and  he  did  as  he  was  told.  And  so  by  this  way 
the  steward  made  provision  for  his  reception  among  rogues, 
after  he  himself  had  played  the  rogue  to  his  just  and  honor- 
able master. 

It  is  added,  "  The  lord  commended  the  mijust  steward." 
I  have  actually  heard  Christians  say  that  this  means  that 
Jesus  applauded  such  conduct.  How  they  could  come  to 
such  an  inference,  I  do  not  know;  it  is  not  the  Lord  Jesus 
that  commended  him,  but  the  steward's  master  —  the  stew- 
ard's dsa-KOTrjg  —  the  steward's  ruler.  The  master  of  the  ser- 
vant commended  the  unjust  steward  because  he  had  done  — 
what?  Because  he  had  done  justly?  No;  that  he  could 
not  have  done ;  but  because  the  steward  acted  cleverly  — 
because  he  acted  cunningly;  his  master  applauded  the 
ingenuity  of  the  steward,  while  he  reprobated  the  moral 
conduct  by  which  he  was  branded.  It  does  not  mean  that 
Christ  approved  it,  nor  does  it  mean  that  his  own  master 
praised  his  dishonesty,  but  tliat  his  own  master  praised  the 
ingenuity  with  which  he  had  acted,  while  he  reprobated  the 
dishonesty  by  which  it  was  inspired. 

Jesus  adds  —  how  true  it  is  !  —  "  The  children  of  this 
world  are  wiser  in  their  generation  "  —  wiser  in  their  way, 
after  their  manner,  and  on  the  supposition  that  there  is 
nothing  beyond  it  —  "than  the  children  of  hght."  And 
you  will  see  it  in  this.  AVhat  is  the  main  thing  that  ought 
to  be  before  the  children  of  light  ?  Heaven,  the  safety  of 
the  soul,  the  honor  of  God.  And  grant  that  to  be  the  main 
thing,  then  all  others  ought  to  be  suboi-dinate  to  it.  Do 
they  do  so  ?     No.     But  look  at  the  children  of  this  world ; 


LUKE    XVI.  319 

watcli  the  man  wlio  seems  to  look  upon  money  as  the  main 
thing  of  life ;  he  is  up  early,  and  goes  to  bed  late,  and  he 
saves  pennies  that  he  may  not  waste  pounds,  calculates 
every  contingency,  hoards  every  farthing,  gives  away  as 
little  as  possible,  and  makes  as  large  profits  as  possible,  in 
order  to  accomplish  what  he  thinks  the  main  thing  —  the 
becoming  a  rich  man.  Well,  if  the  children  of  this  world 
thus  subordinate  all  things  to  what  they  regard  as  the  main 
chance,  how  is  it  that  the  children  of  light  do  not  subordi- 
nate all  things  to  their  grandest  and  noblest  end  —  the 
safety  of  the  soul,  and  the  honor  and  glory  of  God  ? 

Our  Lord  draws  instructions  from  this  parable,  not  com- 
mendatory of  the  acts  of  the  steward,  but  recording  them  as 
facts,  and  drawing  from  the  history  its  proper  lesson.  If 
you  open  a  history  of  Europe,  or  a  history  of  England,  you 
read,  and  quote,  and  use  its  facts  ;  it  does  not  follow  that 
you  will  praise  them ;  many  of  them  you  condemn ;  but 
from  each  and  all  you  draw  the  incidental  lessons  that  they 
naturally  suggest.  So  our  Lord  draws  from  this  parable 
the  incidental  lessons  it  suggests,  and  he  says,  "  He  that  is 
faithful  in  that  which  is  least"  —  in  the  management  of  an 
earthly  stewardship  —  "  is  faithful  also  in  much  "  —  the 
management  of  a  heavenly  stewardship.  If  you  would  not 
trust  a  man  that  robs  you,  with  the  use  of  a  small  sum,  you 
would  not  trust  him  Avith  a  large  sum.  When  once  the 
great  barrier  that  separates  the  unjust  from  the  just  is 
passed  and  broken  down,  it  is  felt  that  the  basis  of  confi- 
dence is  gone. 

"  Make  to  yourselves  friends  of  the  mammon  of  unright- 
eousness ;  that,  when  ye  fail,  they  may  receive  you  into  ever- 
lasting habitations."  What  is  meant  by  this  ?  Take  what  you 
have  in  this  world  —  money,  influence,  wealth,  station,  rank, 
—  whatever  element  of  power  is  yours,  make  a  friend  of  it  ? 
How  make  a  friend  of  it  ?  Consecrate  it,  turn  it  to  a  heav- 
enly purpose,  and  then,  when  you  die,  those  who  have  been 


320  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

blessed  and  benefited  by  your  sacrifices,  will  welcome  you 
with  shouts  of  joy  and  gratitude,  into  those  many  mansions 
that  Christ  has  purchased  and  gone  to  prepare  for  you.  It 
means,  as  it  is  said,  "  There  is  joy  among  the  angels  of 
heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth."  So  there  will  be 
joy  among  the  blessed  over  your  entrance  into  glory,  who 
have  benefited  those  blessed  when  they  were  pilgrims  and 
strangers  upon  earth.  It  is  a  very  beautiful  thought,  and  I 
think  a  most  sacred  one,  that  those  whom  you  have  blessed 
with  your  contributions,  that  the  distant  heathen  you  have 
enlightened  by  your  efforts,  that  the  mourners  you  have 
comforted  by  your  sympathies,  and  who  have  preceded  you 
to  glory,  will  stand  at  the  gate  and  vestibule  of  heaven,  and 
welcome  you  with  their  applause,  recognizing  the  grace  in 
you  that  did  them  good,  while  they  give  to  God  all  the 
glory  and  the  honor  of  your  possessing  it.  It  shows  that 
recij)ients  upon  earth,  though  they  may  be  ungrateful  here, 
will  not  be  ungrateful  hereafter,  and  that  when  we  ourselves 
leave  this  world,  we  shall  be  recollected  by  those  that  have 
preceded  us,  and  have  received  of  our  benefits  while  they 
were  on  earth. 

"  No  servant  can  serve  two  masters."  This  means  two 
masters  of  different  schools,  of  different  and  confiicting 
principles.  For  instance,  one  physician  is  what  is  called 
the  regular  and  proper,  or,  as  some  say,  allopathic  physi- 
cian, another  is  what  is  called  a  homceopathic  or  hydropathic 
physician ;  well,  if  I  become  the  patient  of  one  of  these,  I 
cannot  be  the  patient  of  the  other ;  I  cannot  take  the  pre- 
scriptions of  both,  because  they  are  contrary  to  each  other. 
So  no  man  can  serve  two  conflicting  masters,  who  act  on 
different  principles,  pursue  different  plans,  even  if  they  con- 
template not  very  different  objects.  If,  therefore,  you  will 
have  Satan  to  be  your  master,  that  is,  the  making  of  a  for- 
tune to  be  your  end,  do  so,  and  take  the  consequences ;  but 
if  you  will  have  the  Lord  Jesus  to  be  your  master,  and  the 


LUKE    XVI.  321 

soul  and  eternity  to  be  the  grand  things,  elect  it,  and  you 
will  find  how  hapj^y  and  blessed  are  the  consequences. 

Then  he  reprobates  the  conduct  of  the  Pharisees  who 
heard  these  things,  and  derided  him;  he  recapitulates  some 
of  the  laws  that  he  had  alluded  to  before  ;  and  he  gives  one 
of  the  most  instructive,  suggestive,  and  interesting  parables 
recorded  in  the  whole  word  of  God.  He  says,  "  There  was 
a  certain  rich  man,  which  was  clothed  in  purple  "  —  which 
was  the  dress  of  princes  —  "  and  fine  linen,"  —  regarded  as 
the  greatest  ornament  of  ancient  times,  —  "  and  fared  sump- 
tuously every  day."  Well,  there  was  no  sin  in  his  faring 
sumptuously,  or  having  the  best  food,  the  best  meat,  and  the 
best  wine  every  day,  provided  he  defrauded  no  tradesman, 
and  gave  liberally  of  what  he  could  spare  to  the  sick  and 
the  poor.  This  is  not  stated  as  a  flaw  in  the  rich  man's 
character.  Do  not  go  away  with  the  notion  that  there  is 
any  sin  in  being  rich ;  and  do  not  go  away  with  the  other 
notion,  that  there  is  any  virtue  in  being  poor.  Many  a  man 
who  has  thousands,  is  very  often  benevolent  and  humble ; 
and  many  a  man  that  earns  twenty  shillings  a  week  is 
proud,  conceited,  and  forgets  God.  It  is  not  circumstances 
that  constitute  the  man  ;  it  is  man  that  consecrates  and 
adorns  the  circumstances.  A  good  man  sweeping  a  cross- 
ing is  a  great  man ;  a  bad  man  swaying  a  sceptre  is  a  bad 
man  still.  Tv^e  read,'  then,  that  "  there  was  a  certain  beggar 
named  Lazarus,"  —  whose  misfortune  it  was  to  be  a  beggar, 
not  his  sin.  Poverty  is  not  sin  ;  it  ought  not  to  be  shame, 
unless  it  be  caused  by  our  own  extravagance,  indiscretion, 
and  want  of  ordinary  forethought.  His  name  was  Lazarus. 
How  singular  that  that  name,  which  means  "  The  help  of 
God,"  has  gone  into  every  language  !  A  lazaretto  is  a  name 
still  used  on  the  continent  of  Europe :  a  lazar  is.  a  name 
descriptive  of  beggars.  Lazarus  is  merely  the  synonym 
for  a  very  miserable  pauper ;  I  need  scarcely  add,  he  is  not 
the  Lazarus  that  was  the  brother  of  Mary  and  Martha,  but 


322  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

a  totally  distinct  and  different  character.  He  was  not  only 
poor  and  destitute,  but  also —  what  aggravated  his  poverty  — 
diseased ;  and  disease  not  the  consequence  of  his  indiscre- 
tion, but  a  visitation  in  the  providence  of  God.  He  was 
often  so  hungry  that  he  would  fain  have  eaten  the  very 
crumbs  —  that  is,  the  excess  —  that  fell  from  the  rich  man's 
table.  It  is  here  that  the  sin  of  the  rich  man  comes  out  — 
that  he  could  see  hunger  crouching  at  his  gate  or  near  his 
richly  spread  table,  and  yet  not  feel  it ;  that  he  could  gratify 
his  own  appetite  with  all  the  luxuries  of  the  East  and  the 
West,  while  a  poor  beggar,  made  by  the  same  God,  re- 
deemed by  precious  blood,  with  whom  he  ought  to  have 
sympathized,  literally  starved  for  hunger.  But  could  such 
a  picture  occur  now  ?  I  have  no  doubt  it  does  occur.  You 
will  see  in  the  splendid  districts  of  the  west,  a  magnificent 
palace,  full  of  all  that  can  add  to  the  joys,  the  comforts,  and 
excitement  —  not  to  say  dissipation  —  of  life.  Under  its 
shadow  you  wdll  find  a  miserable  cellar  —  seven  or  eight 
livmg  in  it,  and  beneath  a  fearful  accumulation  of  all  the 
elements  of  disease  —  without  the  light  of  the  sun,  or  fresh 
air,  or  decent  food.  In  that  splendid  palace  you  have  the 
rich  man  faring  sumptuously  every  day;  and  you  have 
under  its  shadow  the  poor  man,  that  would  eat  of  the  crumbs 
that  fall  from  it,  and  cannot  get  them.  And  while  that  poor 
man  is  not  to  start  an  emeute  in  order  to  destroy  the  palace, 
yet  the  rich  man  should  be  told  in  tones  of  thunder  by 
every  one  that  has  access  to  his  ear,  that  his  palace  would 
not  look  the  less  splendid  if  it  did  not  cast  its  shadow  upon 
such  misery.  What  is  the  true  way,  my  dear  friends,  to 
save  a  revolution  ?  Just  a  reformation.  There  is  no  calam- 
ity so  disastrous  as  when  all  society  is  split  into  two  classes  — 
they  that  have  abundantly,  and  they  that  have- nothing  at 
all.  The  true  way  to  make  the  one  class  happy  —  for  it  is 
happiness  to  them  —  and  the  other  class  content,  is,  for 
them  that  fare  sumptuously  every  day  to  spare,  not  only  the 


LUKE  XVI.  323 

crumbs,  wliich  are  superfluities,  but  something  even  of  their 
necessities,  for  tlie  poor  that  are  beside  them. 

It  came  to  pass,  that  is,  it  happened  to  tlie  poor  man  as  it 
happens  to  all  — - "  the  beggar  died,  and  was  carried  by  the 
angels  into  Abraham's  bosom ;  the  rich  man  also  died,"  and, 
it  is  added,  "was  buried."  There  is  contrast  here:  the 
beggar  died  —  not  a  word  of  a  burial  —  he  was  likely  cast 
into  the  nearest  ditch,  or  into  some  city  churchyard,  because 
the  parish  would  not  be  at  the  expense  to  take  him  too  far, 
or  to  make  the  parishioners  pay  too  heavy  rates.  The  rich 
man,  however,  when  he  died,  was  buried  amid  pomp,  and 
splendor,  and  nodding  plumes,  and  all  those  absurd  exhibi- 
tions, which,  in  order  to  please  the  taste  of  undertakers,  ac- 
company a  modern  funeral.     "  He  died,  and  was  buried." 

Singular  enough,  the  poor  man  died  lirst.  That  shows 
that  early  death  is  not  judgment,  and  long  life  is  not  neces- 
sarily mercy.  It  was  the  poor  man  that  died  first ;  it  was 
the  rich  man  that  died  last.  Well,  then,  it  is  added,  "  the 
rich  man  died,  and  was  buried ;  and  in  hell  he  lift  up  his 
eyes,  being  in  torments."  You  ask,  How,  when  he  was 
buried,  when  the  body  was  consigned  to  the  grave,  and  slum- 
bered beneath  the  marble  monument  or  the  splendid  mauso- 
leum—  for  dust  goes  to  dust  under  marble  and  bronze  just 
as  soon  as  under  a  green  sod ;  there  is  a  wonderful  level  in 
the  realities  of  life  and  of  death,  though  there  may  appear 
heights  and  depths  in  living  society  —  how,  you  ask,  when 
his  body  was  buried,  and  put  into  the  grave,  could  he  open 
his  eyes  in  the  place  of  separate  spirits  ?  I  answer,  I  be- 
lieve the  soul  that  is  separated  from  the  body  will  carry  with 
it  into  the  world  of  spirits  all  the  feelings  that  it  had  whilst 
a  sojourner  in  the  body.  I  am  told  by  physicians  that  a 
man  who  has  lost  his  arm  will  feel  for  six  months  afterwards 
as  if  he  had  pain  in  his  little  finger,  and  that  the  arm  seems 
from  his  sensations  still  attached ;  and  I  have  no  doubt,  to 
carry  the  analogy  further,  that  when  the  body  is  separated 


324  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

from  the  soul,  just  as  when  a  bit  of  it,  the  arm,  i5  separated 
from  the  body,  there  may  remain  in  the  soul  behind  all  the 
sensibilities,  without  the  substance,  of  its  terrestrial  and 
mundane  existence.  So  here  it  is  said  that  he  lift  up  his  eyes 
—  ihough  it  was  the  soul  —  in  hell,  being  in  torments  ;  "  and 
seeth  Abraham  afar  off,  and  Lazarus  in  his  bosom."  This 
is  just  lifting  the  curtain,  and  letting  us  see  some  glimpses 
of  the  world  to  come.  It  is  a  picture  of  realities  couched  in 
the  imagery  that  we  can  understand.  It  is  said,  "  he  seeth 
Abraham  afar  off; "  and  he  sees  also,  what  he  must  have 
seen  with  horror,  the  beggar  that  he  kicked  from  his  thresh- 
old, to  whom  he  denied  the  crumbs  that  fell  from  his  table, 
to  whom  his  dogs  were  more  merciful  than  their  master — ■ 
he  seeth  this  beggar  in  the  bosom  of  Abraham ;  and  being 
a  Jew,  and  professing  to  be  one  of  Abraham's  children,  the 
shock  must  have  been  terrible.  He  felt,  if  not  said,  "  I  have 
got  your  succession,  I  am  one  of  the  children  of  Abraham  — 
I  am  descended  from  you  —  I  am  a  Jew  strictly  and  rigid- 
ly." And,  therefore,  he  appeals  to  him,  and  to  his  relation- 
ship to  him :  —  "  Father  Abraham,  —  I  am  thy  son,  —  have 
mercy  on  me,  —  a  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews,  a  Jew  of  the 
Jews;  with  no  admixture  of  vile  Gentile  blood  —  have  mer- 
cy upon  me,  and  do  send  Lazarus  —  whom  I  treated  with 
such  scorn,  but  whom  now  I  would  hail  as  a  messenger  of 
mercy  —  that  he  may  only  do  me  this  little  favor,  though  I 
would  not  give  him  a  crumb  of  my  bread  —  that  he  may  dip 
his  little  finger  in  water,  and  cool  my  tongue ;  for  I  am  tor- 
mented in  this  flame." 

What  a  contrast  is  here  between  the  present  world  and 
that  which  is  hereafter !  Abraham  replied,  "  Son,  remem- 
ber that  thou  in  thy  lifetime  receivedst  thy  good  things." 
Abraham  replies  with  all  the  courtesy  of  true  Christianity. 
"  Remember ;  "  and  what  an  awful  remembrance  !  If  the 
lost  in  hell  could  expunge  their  memories,  half  their  torture 
would  cease ;  but  the  recollection  of  opportunities  that  we 


LUKE  XVI.  325 

lost  that  we  might  have  used,  the  recollection  of  mercies  that 
we  abused,  the  recollection  of  lessons  that  we  learned  and 
purposely  forgot,  the  recollection  of  opportunities  of  doing 
good  which  we  passed  by,  because  we  wished  to  become  a 
little  richer,  or  to  deposit  a  little  more  in  the  funds  —  all 
these  recollections  will  rush  upon  the  lost,  and  "  Remember," 
will  be  the  most  stirring  word  that  can  possibly  be  spoken  to 
the  miserable  and  the  unhappy.  "  Thou  in  thy  lifetime  re- 
ceivedst  thy  good  tilings."  All  the  good  that  you  esteemed 
upon  earth  was  what  you  iRiould  eat,  and  what  you  should 
drink,  and  wherewithal  you  should  be  clothed.  Such  was 
the  height  of  your  ambition ;  such  was  the  good  —  the  only 
good  —  that  you  sought,  and  you  have  had  it.  Now  Laza- 
rus, he  had  evil  things  —  what  you  call  evil ;  but  he  lifted 
his  heart  above  the  things  that  perish  in  the  using,  and  saw 
eternal  things ;  "  now  he  is  comforted,  and  thou  art  torment- 
ed." What  a  poor  defence  is  here  of  the  Roman  Catholic's 
belief  of  saint  worship !  The  only  instance  of  prayer  ad- 
dressed to  a  saint  in  the  Bible  is  this ;  and  the  petitioner 
was  refused.  It  is  certainly  no  precedent,  nor  authority  to 
pray  to  departed  saints. 

But  Abraham  adds,  "  Beside  all  this,  between  us  and  you 
there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed ;  so  that  they  which  would  pass 
from  hence  to  you  cannot."  How  completely  does  this  re- 
fute the  notion  of  the  Universalists !  There  is  a  class  of 
men  sprung  up  in  America,  which  I  regret  to  say,  while  it 
produces  some  of  the  most  magnificent  theology,  and  some 
of  the  greatest  intellects  of  the  day,  is  also  Hke  a  fertile  soil, 
very  full  of  strange  and  extravagant  notions,  from  Univer- 
salism  to  Mormonism,  and  even  below  that ;  —  well,  these 
Universalists  say  there  is  no  hell ;  or  if  there  be,  it  is  a  sort 
of  Roman  Catholic  purgatory,  where  sufferings  and  tears 
will  wash  out  sins,  and  then  all  will  rise  to  heaven.  But 
how  does  that  notion  square  with  what  Abraham  states,  and 
our  Lord  authenticates  ?  —  that  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed, 
28 


326  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

SO  that  tliey  that  would  go  from  heaven,  to  hell  cannot,  and 
they  that  would  go  from  hell  to  heaven  cannot;  or,  translat- 
ed into  the  language  of  the  Apocalypse,  the  doors  are  shut 
—  indicating  that  there  is  no  transference  from  the  lost  to 
the  saved ;  no  degradation  of  the  saved  to  the  realms  of  the 
lost.  There  is  a  great  gulf  fixed  between  the  two  ;  so  that 
transference,  transition  —  even  intercourse  in  reciprocal 
benefits  —  is  altogether  impossible. 

He  says,  "  Very  well,  since  nothing  can  be  done  for  me, 
I  pray  thee  therefore,  father,  thar  thou  wouldst  send  him  to 
my  father's  house ;  for  I  have  five  brethren ;  that  her  may 
testify  unto  them,  lest  they  also  come  into  this  place  of  tor- 
ment." Was  this  a  lingering  sympathy  of  beneficence  that 
survived  the  condition  of  the  lost  in  the  rich  man's  bosom  ? 
1  think  not.  He  may  have  felt  for  his  brethren  upon  earth ; 
but  he  knew  that  the  presence  of  those  that  shared  Avith  him 
in  his  crimes,  would  only  aggravate  the  torment  that  was  the 
penalty  of  those  crimes  in  the  region  of  the  lost.  Solitude 
was  his  only  chance  of  peace;  insulation  from  those  he 
ever  had  intercourse  with  upon  earth  was  his  only  hope  of 
lightening  his  load  and  mitigating  his  torment.  I  fear,  there- 
fore, it  was  selfishness  that  dreaded  aggravation  of  its  tor- 
ment, not  the  beneficent  sympathy  that  would  save  the  five 
brethren  that  were  left  behind.  But  this,  of  course,  is  only 
a  conjecture  that  rests  with  you,  to  judge  from  the  whole 
parable,  whethei'  it  fully  exhausts  the  case. 

Abraham  said  to  him,  "  they  have  Moses  and  the  proph- 
ets ;  let  them  hear  them."  What  a  striking  truth  is  that ! 
"  They  have  Moses  and  the  prophets."  He  said,  "  I  Avant 
to  save  my  five  brothers  —  I  want  them  not  to  come  where 
I  am."  What  did  Abraham  reply  ?  "  They  have  got  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures."  He  did  not  say,  "  They  have 
got  tradition  ; "  nor  did  he  say,  "  They  have  got  the  Church  ; " 
nor  did  he  say,  "  The  Rabbis  that  sit  in  Moses'  seat ; "  but 
he  referred  them  to  the  law  and  to  the  testimony  —  "  They 


LUKE   XVI.  327 

Lave  Moses  and  the  prophets. ;  let  them  hear  them."  And 
again,  you  learn  by  this  that  if  Moses  and  the  prophets  — 
that  is,  the  Old  Testament  —  was  sufficient  to  make  wise 
unto  salvation  in  those  days,  a  fortiori,  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  together  are  able  to  make  us  wise  unto  salvation 
now.  I  cannot  conceive  how  pope,  or  cardinal,  or  priest,  or 
council,  can  a,nswer  this;  it  ass'erts  the  sufficiency  of  the 
Bible  to  salvation  to  all  that  read  it. 

Then  he  argues  with  Abraham  —  for  if  they  have  lost 
character  in  the  state  of  the  lost,  they  have  not  lost  the  power 
of  reasoning  —  "  Nay,  father  Abraham  ;  but  if  one  went  unto 
them  from  the  dead,  they  will  repent."  That  is,  if  they  only 
see  a  miracle,  then  they  will  repent.  This  was  wrong. 
What  effect  would  a  miracle  produce  ?  You  might  be  awed, 
you  might  be  struck  dumb,  you  might  be  almost  struck  dead ; 
but  this  would  not  make  you  repent.  Suppose  a  miracle 
were  to  occur  once  only  in  a  generation,  the  first  generation 
would  be  struck  by  it,  but  the  second  and  the  third  would 
not  have  so  great  impression  produced  upon  their  minds  by 
it ;  and  a  miracle  always  repeated  would  cease  to  be  a  mir- 
acle at  all,  and  would  be  set  down  in  the  books  of  philosophy 
as  one  of  the  regular  phenomena  of  nature  ;  so  that  the  cease- 
less occurrence  of  what  is  called  a  miracle  would  cease  to 
have  any  effect  at  all  —  at  all  events  it  would  have  no  moral 
effect  —  because  the  miracle  could  only  confirm  to  the  in- 
tellect some  great  truth,  but  it  would  not  touch  the  heart. 
"  They  shall  look  upon  him  whom  they  have  pierced,  and 
i\\ey  shall  mourn;"  "  Christ  is  exalted  to  give  repentance." 
And  then  Abraham  said  to  him,  "  If  they  hear  not  Moses  and 
the  prophets,  neither  will  they  be  persuaded."  Mark  the 
contrast ;  it  is  perfectly  complete.  The  rich  man  said,  "  They 
will  repent ;  "  the  answer  he  gives  is,  "  They  would  not  even 
be  persuaded."  The  rich  man  said,  "  They  will  repent  if 
one  were  to  come  from  the  dead,"  Abraham  says  —  evi- 
dently allusive  to  the  resurrection  of  Christ  — "  They  will 


328  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

not  even  be  persuaded  though  one,"  not  came  from  the  dead, 
the  place  of  separate  spirits,  but  rose  from  the  dead,  as  Christ 
now  has  done.  Now  Jesus  is  risen  from  the  dead,  and  the 
same  Jews  tliat  denied  him  then,  deny  him  now,  even  when 
he  has  risen  from  the  dead. 


CHAPTER   XVI.    10. 

FAITHFULNESS  IN  SMALL  THINGS  —  LIFE  MADE  UP  OF  LITTLE  THINGS 
—  ANALOGIES  —  GOd's  CAIiE  OF  LITTLE  THINGS  —  LIFE  OF  JESUS 
ST.  PAUL — TOIL  —  PREACHING — NATIONAL  GREATNESS. 

.  Our  blessed  Lord  records  in  this  chapter  a  great  and 
Tyeighty  truth :  —  "He  that  is  faithful  in  that  which  is  least 
is  faithful  also  in  much ;  and  he  that  is  unjust  in  the  least  is 
unjust  also  in  much." 

Naaman  the  Syrian  is  not  without  successors  in  the  age 
in  which  we  live.  It  was  said  to  him,  in  language  that 
illustrates  the  text,  "  If  the  prophet  had  bid  thee  do  some 
great  thing,  thou  wouldst  have  done  it.  How  much  more 
when  he  bids  thee  only  go,  and  wash,  and  be  clean."  We 
are  disposed  at  times  to  think  that  faithfulness  in  that  which 
is  much  is  an  atonement,  or  at  least  a  relieving,  for  unfaith- 
fulness in  that  which  is  least.  I  do  not  say  we  express  it 
in  words  to  that  effect :  but  we  feel  often,  and  show  by  our 
practice  that  we  do  feel,  that  if  we  are  only  faithful  in  trans- 
actions of  pounds,  we  need  not  trouble  ourselves  much  that 
we  have  been  unjust  and  uncharitable  in  transactions  about 
pence  and  farthings. 

The  maxim  of  our  Lord  is,  that  he  that  has  the  principle 
of  honesty  within  him  —  not  a  principle  only,  but  a  H)iritual 
passion  —  will  just  be  as  faithful  in  his  dealings  that  relate 
to  small  affairs,  as  he  is  in  those  higher  dealings  on  the  out- 
ward platform  of  the  world  tliat  involve  the  largest  trans- 
ferences, and  sums  of  the  largest  amount.     The  reason  is 

28*  (329) 


330  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

simply  this  —  that  principle  carries  us  through  little  things, 
and  fails  us  not  in  great  things :  and  if  we  are  honest  we 
may,  by  mistake,  or  weakness,  or  forgetfulness,  fail  in  little 
things,  but  we  shall  not  do  so  deliberately  and  designedly ; 
but  faithful  in  much,  we  shall  be  faithful  in  the  least  also. 

You  will  see  the  force  of  such  a  maxim  as  this  when  I 
state  that  the  whole  of  human  life,  in  its  ultimate  and  ever- 
lasting issue,  is  made  up  of  small  and  trivial  things.  It  is 
not  grand  and  startling  anniversaries  in  succession  that  con- 
stitute a  man's  life  —  but  it  is  the  accumulation  of  the  com- 
mon-place days,  and  weeks,  and  months,  and  years,  with 
their  common-place  deeds,  that  compose  the  most  of  men's 
lives.  What  those  days  are  determines  what  futurity 
will  be;  the  past  gives  its  coloring  to  the  present,  the 
present  gives  its  tone  and  coloring  to  the  future ;  and  if  you 
will  only  take  care  to  fulfil  well  life's  little  days,  you  need 
not  be  afraid  that  you  will  fail  justly  to  discharge  life's  great 
and  stirring  duties.  It  is  on  great  occasions  that  the  whole 
character  is  braced  for  the  conflict ;  it  is  on  little  occasions, 
just  because  of  their  littleness,  that  we  fail,  because  we  fancy 
that  a  little  thing  can  have  very  little  influence  ;  whereas., 
life  is  made  up  of  a  series  of  little  things,  which  together 
constitute  great  and  lasting  results. 

We  shall  see  the  importance  of  attending  to  very  little 
things  in  order  to  accomplish  very  great  results  from  this 
simple  fact  —  that  very  little  things  do,  as  matter-of-fact, 
issue  in  very  momentous  results.  It  is  a  number  of  tiny 
acorns,  it  may  be  scattered  by  the  meanest  animals  upon  the 
field,  that  are  shaped  into  those  gigantic  sea  homes  and 
camps,  our  ships,  the  bulwarks  and  the  defences  of  our 
countrj*  It  is  a  number  of  tiny  insects  that  form  coral  reefs, 
which  again  grow  up  above  the  sea,  are  covered  with  seeds 
borne  by  birds  in  their  flight,  and  ultimately  become  the 
abodes  and  habitations  of  great  and  accomplished  nations. 
It  is  tiny  drops  falling  on  the  heather  that  form  themselves 


LUKE    XVI.  831 

into  tiny  streamlets,  that  accumulate  into  larger  rivers,  that 
at  last  become  great  tidal  stj-eams  .that  bear  the  navies  of 
the  earth  on  their  bosom,  and  mingle  their  mighty  currents 
with  the  illimitable  main :  and  thus  little,  very  little- — 
seemingly  very  little  things,  end  in  very  great  results.  -It 
is  the  ceaseless  revolution  of  a  paddle  wheel  that  carries  the 
great  ship  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean ;  it  is  the  combination 
of  successive  little  things  that  forms  a  series,  mighty,  mo- 
mentous, and  startling  in  its  results.  And  so  a  trivial  habit, 
indulged  in  every  day,  becomes  at  last  our  very  nature.  A 
year  does  not  leap  to  its  end  by  a  bound  ;  it  does  so  by  be- 
ginning upon  seconds,  then  moving  upon  minutes,  then  days, 
then  weeks,  then  months ;  and  thus,  by  a  succession  of  mi- 
nute steps,  the  year  reaches  its  own  accomplishment  and 
completion. 

We  thus  see,  that  great  things  —  commonplace  as  the 
remark  may  appear  to  you  —  are  made  up  of  little  things ; 
and  you  cannot  but  admit,  what  seems  common  sense,  that 
if  you  Avill  attend  to  the  little  things,  you  may  calculate 
upon  attaining  the  great  things.  If  you  will  take  care  of 
the  pence,  you  need  not  be  alarmed  about  the  pounds  ;  if 
you  will  be  faithful  in  little  things,  you  will  soon  discover 
yourselves  —  unconsciously  but  truly  —  faithful  in  the  great 
and  important  things. 

We  may  see  this  illustrated  further  from  God's  own  con- 
duct and  character.  I  think  it  is  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing features  in  the  world  that  we  live  in,  that  God  in  it  — 
both  in  creation  and  in  providence  — seems* to  have  had  as 
great  a  care,  and  as  deep,  tender,  and  ceaseless  an  interest 
in  the  very  least  molecules  of  matter,  as  he  has  in  the  larg- 
est and  most  massive  orbs  in  the  sky.  If  you  will  only 
take  a  bee's  wing,  and  examine  it  through  a  microscope, 
after  you  have  examined  the  finest  lace  from  the  looms  of 
Valenciennes  or  Brussels  with  the  same  microscope,  you 
you  will  be  struck  with  the  contrast  between  the  coarse, 


332  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

rugged  texture  of  the  loom,  and  the  exquisite,  infinitely 
exquisite  texture  of  a  bee's  wing  ;  so  much  so,  that  you  will 
say,  God  has  been  as  careful,  as  minutely  careful,  in  weav- 
ing that  bee's  wing,  as  if  he  had  not  another  thing  to  make 
or  to  manage  in  the  whole  of  his  own  beautiful  universe. 
Or  if  you  will  take  a  flower  :  all  the  tints  that  chemists  can 
produce,  all  the  chemical  tints  or  colors  they  can  create, 
never  can  reach  the  exquisite  tints  of  the  flowers  that  grow 
in  the  humblest  garden.  Why  is  it,  then,  that  God  has  been 
at  the  trouble  so  beautifully  to  tint  that  petal  that  is  no 
sooner  blown  than  blasted  ;  or  delicately  to  w^eave  that  wing 
that  scarcely  bears  its  possessor  through  the  air  than  it 
crumbles  into  dust  again ;  if  we  cannot  see  the  ultimate  end, 
we  can  see  this  —  that  if  God  is  as  careful  in  taking  care  of 
minute  things  as  he  is  in  conducting  and  creating  magnifi- 
cent things,  we  may  think  that  he  that  is  faithful  in  the  least 
will  be  faithful  in  that  which  is  much  ;  and  he  that  is  unjust 
by  being  inattentive  to  the  least,  will  be  unjust  also  in  that 
which  is  great. 

There  is  another  illustration  of  the  same  lesson  in  the  life 
of  our  blessed  Lord.  We  have  seen  it  in  the  w^orks  of  the 
Father ;  let  me  notice  it  also  in  the  w^orks  of  the  Son.  Take 
the  whole  of  that  remarkable  biography  —  a  biography  that 
was  consummated  by  so  painful  a  death  uponthe  cross  on 
Calvary  ;  and  you  will  find  in  it  nothing  of  glare  or  of  pomp, 
nothing  done  for  effect,  no  adjustment  of  robes,  no  arrange- 
ment of  circumstances,  no  calculating  upon  results,  but 
every  thing  intensely  simple,  —  I  might  almost  say,  intensely 
commonplace.  In  life's  lonely  places  you  will  find  him 
oftenest,  in  the  homesteads  of  the  poor,  at  the  table  of  the 
despised  outcast,  preaching  to  a  woman  at  a  well,  who  came, 
as  some  would  say,  accidentally  to  draw  water ;  addressing 
the  crowd  from  the  hill-side,  or  seated  in  a  boat,  or  upon 
the  road-side.  All  this  is  intensely  simple.  But  all  great 
men  are  sunple,  and  all  good  men  are  simple.     There  is 


LUKE   XVI.  333 

nothing  so  contraiy  to  the  word  of  God,  in  my  mind,  as  the 
habit  that  some  have  of  always  using  religious  phraseology. 
They  seem  in  many  cases  to  use  it  as  other  men  use  pro- 
fane swearing  —  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  meaning  any 
thing  whatever  by  what  they  say.  There  was  nothing  of 
pretence,  nothing  indicating  assumption  or  religious  preten- 
sion, but  every  thing  in  that  beautiful  character  simple  to  the 
vulgar  eye,  so  commonplace,  that  it  cannot  see  or  be  struck 
with  any  iMng  remarkable  in  it.  And  when  he  hangs  upon 
the  cross  in  his  last  agony,  what  does  he  do  ?  So  faithful 
was  he  in  the  least,  that  in  that  agony  on  which  was  sus- 
pended the  safety  of  countless  millions  of  souls,  he  stops  to 
take  care  of  a  weeping  mother.  And  when  he  rose  from 
the  dead  —  that  stupendous  act,  the  first-fruits  of  them  that 
slept —  so  faithful  was  he  to  little  things,  that  he  laid  aside 
the  clothes  and  the  raiment  in  which  he  was  wrapped,  folded 
them,  and  put  them  in  a  corner ;  so  that  while  engaged  in 
rising  from  the  dead,  the  first-fruits  of  a  risen  world,  he  de- 
scended to  fold  and  lay  aside  in  their  nook  the  clothes  in 
wdiich  he  was  wrapped,  when  he  was  put  in  that  tomb 
wherein  never  man  lay ;  and  thus,  combined  with  dignity 
that  no  language  of  mine  can  express,  there  was  a  minute- 
ness, an  attention  to  details,  very  commonplace,  the  world 
would  call  it,  but  very  truly  in  accordance  with  what  God 
shows  in  creation,  where  he  attends  to  little  things  as  mi- 
nutely as  he  does  to  the  things  that  are  greatest. 

Another  illustration  is  found  in  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  man's  heart :  there  it  is,  the  same  process.  And 
these  inquiries,  I  may  remind  you,  are  extremely  instructive. 
They  indicate — in  creation,  redemption,  regeneration  — 
grand  points  of  coincidence  that  prove  they  are  all  connected 
Avith  the  same  Great  Author.  In  regeneration  the  Holy 
Spirit  changes  the  heart ;  but  he  does  it,  not  by  a  startling 
stroke,  as  our  Puseyite  brethren  would  by  a  drop  of  water . 
sprinkled  on  the  brow,  but  by  a  long,  laborious  process.     I 


834  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

do  not  believe  in  what  are  called  "  sudden  conversions,"  in 
the  common  sense  of  that  expression.  I  know  persons 
aroused  by  a  sermon,  really  and  truly  converted  to  God  ;  but 
that  sermon  was  not  the  whole  cause,  it  merely  put  the  last 
atom  in  the  scale  that  made  it  go  down ;  it  merely  put  the 
last  drop  in  the  cup  that  made  it  run  over.  What  are  called 
"  sudden  conversions,"  are  merely  the  results  of  a  series  of 
minute  influences  that  the  Spirit  has  been  exercising  upon 
the  heart ;  meaning,  in  his  own  time  and  in  his  (SI^b.  way,  to 
bless  to  the  conversion  of  the  soul.  The  whole  of  man's 
life  is  a  preparation  for  heaven,  and  a  series  of  minute  influ- 
ences in  their  aggregate  and  their  combination,  forming, 
preparing,  and  ripening  the  soul  for  God  and  for  heaven. 

If  I  leave  the  liigher  sphere,  and  descend  to  any  of  God's 
great  servants,  you  will  find  the  very  same  thing.  In  the 
life  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  you  will  notice  invariable  great 
purpose,  but  that  mingled  with  invariable  attention  to  minute 
details.  I  could  take  many  instances  out  of  his  life ;  I  will 
give  only  one.  If  you  have  read  the  story  of  his  shipwreck, 
you  will  see  that  his  eye  one  moment  was  in  the  heavens, 
reading  God's  grand  piu'poses,  and  that  the  very  next  his 
eye  was  upon  the  humblest  voyager,  telling  them  what  they 
must  do  to  save  life;  and  thereby  setting  a  precedent  to 
every  Christian  minister  not  to  be  satisfied  merely  with 
preaching  the  gospel,  but  also  to  minister  to  the  well-being 
of  his  fellow  men,  and  try  to  make  the  world  altogether  hap- 
pier, and  wiser,  and  more  beautiful,  because  it  has  been  his 
privilege  to  pass  through  it.  So,  in  our  attainment  of  Chris- 
tian character,  we  shall  find  that  the  true  way  to  be  the  most 
eminent  Christian  is  to  be  most  attentive  to  all  the  compo- 
nent details  that  Inake  up  Christian  cliaracter.  The  man 
that  desires,  for  instance,  to  attain  perfection  in  a  trade,  well 
knows  that  during  his  apprenticeship  he  must  pay  attention 
to  the  very  minutest  details  ;  and  he  that  sets  out  to  be  rich 
will  always  take  care  of  the  smallest  sums  as  well  as  of  the 


LUKE   XVI.  335 

largest.  And  I  have  often  been  struck,  on  coming  into  con- 
tact with  men  of  business,  that  in  all  their  accounts,  they  are 
as  careful  about  a  penny  put  down  in  their  account-book  or 
in  their  ledger,  as  if  bankruptcy  itself  were  contingent  upon 
the  loss  of  it.  Why  that  ?  Because  they  know  that  by  at- 
tention to  such  details  as  these  they  attained  their  present 
position.  So  in  the  army :  why  is  there  such  stress  laid 
upon  compliance  with  a  superior  officer's  minutest  orders  ? 
It  is  not  because  the  polishing  of  a  sword  or  the  taking  a 
little  rust  off  a  spur  is  in  itself  of  any  very  great  moment ; 
but  because  the  soldier  gets  that  habit  of  instant  obedience 
to  orders  by  being  accustomed  to  it  in  little  things,  that  makes 
him  neither  falter  nor  flinch  in  the  greatest  and  most  trying 
things.  And  it  is  this  attention  to  details  that  makes  up  the 
grand  result  of  human  life.  It  is  the  to-days  and  yesterdays 
that  build  up  to-morrow.  It  is  the  unseen  parts  of  life  that 
need  the  greatest  attention.  I  read  in  some  housemaid's 
book,  "  Be  sure  to  sweep  and  clean  well  the  nooks  and  un- 
seen parts ;  and  do  the  rest  of  the  house  as  you  please." 
So  with  human  life ;  attend  to  the  unseen  parts  of  it,  and 
you  may  depend  upon  it  the  rest  will  all  adjust  itself  rightly ; 
and  what  often  will  seem  to  you  a  mere  ornament  that  may 
be  dispensed  with,  will  often  be  found,  on  minuter  inspection, 
to  be  essential  to  the  safety  and  stability  of  the  Avhole.  It  is 
much  easier  to  shine  on  great  occasions  than  to  do  well  on 
small ;  it  is  much  easier  to  make  a  fine  speech  from  tHe 
platform,  than  it  is  to  say  to  some  poor  beggar  woman  a 
truly  comforting  and  Christian  word.  Peter  could  draw  his 
sword  to  smite  the  enemies  of  Jesus,  like  a  hero,  and  yet  he 
could  go  out  and  deny  his  Master  in  the  presence  of  a  ser- 
vant-maid. You  see  how  easy  it  is  to  draw  Peter's  sword, 
but  how  difficult  it  is  to  learn,  from  Peter's  conduct,  to  be 
consistent  in  life's  lowliest  and  humblest  places. 

And  so  in  a  successful  ministry;  this  text  reminds  one  of 
the  secret  of  its  success.     Whenever  you  see  a  minister  of 


336  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  gospel  —  and  I  speak  generally  —  become  suddenly  an 
object  of  admiration  and  applause,  you  may  be  sure  there  is 
something  wrong ;  for  I  do  not  believe  that  any  ministry  will 
become  suddenly  popular  that  will  really  last  long.  I  think 
the  real  secret  of  success  in  a  merchant's  counting-house,  of 
success  at  the  counter,  of  success  in  trade,  of  success  at  the 
bar,  of  success  as  a  Christian  minister  —  without  speaking 
of  the  grandest  element  of  all,  the  moral  and  spiritual  one 
—  for  I  am  speaking  only  in  the  region  of  the  human  —  is 
persistent  drudgery  and  patient  labor.  I  believe  genius 
means  capacity  of  labor  and  persistency  rather  than  any 
thing  else.  Make  up  your  mind  that  a  thing  is  good,  and 
then  stand  by  it  at  all  hazards.  Take  your  course ;  perse- 
vere with  all  your  might,  and  you  will  find  that  is  the  way 
to  succeed  in  it.  Do  not  listen  to  praise  on  the  right ;  do 
not  be  afraid  of  censure  on  the  left ;  pay  not  the  least  atten- 
tion to  what  people  say,  praising  or  blaming ;  and  by  so  do- 
ing you  will  find  that,  by  God's  blessing,  success  Avill  attend 
you  whether  you  make  shoes  or  preach  sermons ;  occupy 
life's  low,  or  stand  ujion  life's  high  and  slippery  places.  It 
is  by  this  persistent  drudgery  that,  humanly  speaking,  suc- 
cess anywhere  will  be  attained  ;  and  the  minister  of  the  Gos- 
pel cannot  expect  success  in  a  Avay  different  from  what  other 
people  take.  God  does  not  canonize  indolence  ;  he  does  not 
give  success  to  neglected  duty.  You  are  not  to  depend  upon 
your  own  efforts  as  if  they  were  all,  but  you  are  still  to  use 
them.  What  is  the  promise  ?  "  My  grace  is  sufficient  for 
you."  Some  indolent  Christians  read  it  thus :  "  My  grace 
is  a  substitute  for  you  ; "  and  that  would  be  very  delightful 
news  to  them,  but  it  is  not  to  a  Christian.  God's  word  says, 
"  My  grace  is"  not  a  substitute  for  you ;  but  it  is  "  sufiicient 
for  you."  A  poet  has  very  beautifully  expressed  my  mean- 
ing ;  and  I  always  rejoice  when  one  can  get  a  fragment  of 
true  poetry ;  it  is  so  instructive  :  — 


LUKE    XVI.  337 

"  The  mighty  pyramids  of  stone 
That  wcdgc-Iike  cleave  the  desei't  air, 
"When  nearer  seen  and  better  known, 
Are  but  gigantic  flights  of  stair. 

"  The  distant  mountains  that  uprear 
Their  frowning  foreheads  to  the  skies. 
Are  cross'd  by  pathways  that  appear 
As  we  to  higher  levels  rise. 

"  The  heights  by  great  men  reach'd  and  kept 
Were  not  attain'd  by  sudden  flight  ; 
But  they,  while  their  companions  slept, 
Were  toiling  upwards  in  the  night." 

How  justly,  as  well  as  beautifully,  has  the  i^oet  written 
those  instructive  words.  And  when  you  hear  what  the 
world  would  call  in  its  language  a  very  eloquent  sermon,  you 
go  away  with  the  idea  that  the  minister  preached  it  by  in- 
spiration. I  have  often  been  interrupted  and  delayed  hours 
by  people  visiting  me,  and  when  I  have  ventured  to  say,  "  I 
must  study,"  they  have  said,  "  Oh,  you  can  easily  preach ;  it 
will  not  cost  you  any  trouble."  If  I  were  to  preach  from 
this  pulpit  every  Sunday  what  cost  me  no  trouble,  you  would 
very  soon  disappear,  and  go  elsewhere ;  and  you  would  do 
right  well  to  do  so.  I  do  not  believe  in  extemporaneous 
sermons  arall;  and  what  seems  to  you  a  magnificent  result, 
struck  out  at  a  blow,  has  been  the  fruit  of  long,  patient,  per- 
sistent, laborious  preparation.  It  was  drudgery  a&  well  as 
genius  that  made  the  Duke  of  Wellington  ;  it  is  drudgery  as 
well  as  genius  that  makes  the  greatest  men  of*the  day ;  and 
if  you  want  to  be  good  tradesmen,  good  merchants,  good 
lawyers,  good  physicians,  you  must  go  through  much  drudg- 
ery. Why  should  you  expect  to  be  good  Christians,  good 
theologians,  well  acquainted  with  the  Bible,  strong  and  stead- 
fast in  every  good  and  holy  work,  without  ever  having  been 
at  the  trouble  to  study,  to  pray,  to  labor,  and  to  persevere 
in  doing  so  ?  I  am  not  excluding  the  highest  source  of  ex- 
29 


338  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

cellence  and  success ;  I  am  only  showing  these  subordinate 
ones,  that  we  must  never  overlook  or  even  undervalue. 

We  may  gather  from  the  whole  of  this,  that  not  only  they 
who'have  great  talents,  but  they  who  have  little  talents,  may 
be  useful.  If  you  be  salt  at  all,  you  will  have  the  savor ; 
if  you  be  light  at  all,  you  will  be  luminous.  If  you  cannot 
preach  Christ,  you  can  love  Christ.  You  are  not  account- 
able for  the  magnitude  of  your  gifts  and  graces  ;  but  you  are 
for  the  use  that  you  make  of  the  gifts  and  graces  that  you 
have. 

In  the  second  place,  let  us  learn  from  the  whole  of  this 
the  value  of  ceaseless  and  continuous  attendance  on  a  Chris- 
tian ministry.  Wherever  you  find  a  ministry  that  does  in- 
struct you,  you  should  make  it  a  rule,  even  at  some  sacrifice, 
constantly  to  attend  it.  I  can  say  so  with  the  greater  free- 
dom, because  I  have  the  very  reverse  of  any  reason  to  com- 
plain. If  you  wish  to  be  benefited,  your  true  way  is  not  to 
cobae  to  the  house  of  God  by  fits  and  starts,  or  to  roam  here, 
and  there,  and  everywhere ;  but  try  regularly  and  con- 
stantly to  attend  on  one  ministry ;  and  as  character  is  the 
creation  not  of  a  blow,  but  of  a  series  of  truths  dropped  one 
here  and  one  there,  of  touches  communicated  one  here  and 
one  there,  of  influences  here  a  little  and  there  a  little,  you 
can  see  that  by  thus  attending  constantly,  consistently,  and 
regularly,  you  are  within  the  reach  of  those  blessed  influences 
that  may  by  God's  grace  build  you  up  till  you  become  a  man 
of  full  stature  in  Christ  Jesus.  I  wish  that  within  these 
walls  we  had  more  room ;  I  have  often  regretted  much  to 
see  so  many  obliged  constantly  to  stand  in  the  passages ;  but 
it  cannot  be  otherwise  ;  it  would  be  otherwise  if  it  could  be 
altered  ;  and  I  only  trust  that  those  who  so  sacrifice  to  hear 
God's  blessed  word,  will  not  go  away  without  receiving  that 
rich  blessing  which  God  gives  to  them  who  are  faithful  in 
the  least,  as  he  gives  to  them  provided  they  are  faithful  in 
much. 


LUKE    XVI.  339 

The  importance  of  this  truth  may  be  seen  not  only  in 
individual  cases,  but  in  countries.  You  must  not  expect 
that  a  nation  is  built  up  in  perfection  by  a  sudden  burst  of 
light  or  of  life.  There  are  great  epochs  in  a  nation's  his- 
tory, but  its  character  as  a  mass  is  composed  of  innumerable 
little  influences.  You  may  depend  upon  it,  it  is  not  a  splen- 
did speech  in  parliament,  nor  a  grand  measure  agreed  to  at  a 
cabinet  that  makes  our  country  truly  great.  Those  influ- 
ences that  are  forming,  and  shaping,  and  moulding  this 
country,  are  unseen  to  the  world,  but  just  from  their  multi- 
plicity and  their  persistency  they  are  making  deep  and  last- 
ing impressions.  The  tract  distributors  and  city  mission- 
aries are  like  the  coral  insects  in  the  mighty  ocean  —  they 
are  gradually  building  up  a  noble  structure,  that  may  last 
till  the  millennial  day ;,  and  while  great  soldiers,  great  sail- 
ors, great  statesmen,  get  the  reward  that  they  are  often 
contented  with  —  the  world's  applause  —  they  seek,  and  as 
devoted  missionaries  are  getting,  nothing  of  this  v»^orld's  eclat, 
but  what  they  seek  —  the  praise  that  cometh  from  God  only. 
A  revolution  is  the  creation  of  a  day ;  a  reformation  is  the 
result  of  a  century.  A  spark  struck  out  by  the  heel  of  the 
furious  democrat  may  burn  a  throne  and  reduce  a  country 
to  ashes :  but  only  the  silent,  persistent  salt  and  light  of 
Christian  character  and  of  Christian  effort  can  slowly  but 
surely  accomplish  the  permanent  results,  which  are  glory  to 
God  and  salvation  to  sinners,  and  a  blessing  to  our  land. 


Note.  —  And  we  are  all  to  use  this  mammon  o'f  unrighteousness  ; 
to  make  ourselves,  not  palaces,  nor  barns,  nor  estates,  nor  treasures, 
but  friends ;  i.  e.  to  bestow  it  on  the  poor  and  needy,  —  (see  ch,  xii.  33, 
wbich  is  the  most  striking  parallel  to  our  text:  compare  orav  £ii?uTTrjTe, 
with  ^ijaavpbv  uviK.?.£iTnov  there)  —  that  when  we  fail  (die),  or,  accord- 
ing to  the  reading  i:K'Aei~ri,  wlien  it  fails,  they,  i.  e.  the  (j)1?m,  —  (com- 


340  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

pare  the  joy  in  heaven,  eh.  xv.,  and  Baxter's  remark  cited  there  by 
Stier,  "  Is  there  joy  in  heaven  at  thy  conversion,  and  will  there  bo 
none  at  thy  glorification'?") — may  receive  you  into  the  (or  their) 
everlasting  tabernacles.  See  also  ch.  xiv.  13,  14.  God  repays  in 
their  name.  They  receive  us  there  with  joy,  if  they  are  gone  be- 
fore us  ;  they  receive  us  there  by  making  us  partakers  of  their  prayers, 
which  "  move  the  Hand  that  moves  the  Avorld,"  even  during  this  life. 
Deeds  of  charity  and  mercy  are  then  to  be  our  spiritual  shrewdness  by 
which  we  may  turn  to  our  account  the  udiKov  fj.aiJ.C)va,  providing  our- 
selves with  friends  out  of  it ;  —  and  the  debtors  are  here  perhaps  to  be 
taken  in  their  literal,  not  parabolic  sense ;  —  we  are  to  lighten  our  bur- 
dens by  timely  relief,  the  only  way  in  which  a  son  of  light  can  change 
the  hundred  into  fifty  or  fourscore,  see  Isa.  Iviii.  6,  8,  10,  12. 

No  preeminence  is  signified,  as  in  John  xiii.  23 ;  all  the  blessed  are 
spoken  of  as  in  Abraham's  bosom.  See  also  John  i.  18.  The  death  of 
the  rich  man  last  should  be  remarked ;  Lazarus  was  taken  soon  from 
his  sufferings  ;  Dives  was  left  longer,  that  he  might  nv;"'e  time  to  re- 
pent. —  k'  ETa(p7].  There  is  no  doubt  that*  the  funeral  Avas  mentioned 
as  being  congruous  to  his  station  in  life,  and,  as  Trench  observes,  "  in 
a  sublime  irony,"  implying  that  he  had  all  things  properly  cared  for 
—  the  purple  and  fine  linen  which  he  wore  in  life  not  spared  at  his 
obsequies. 

See  Meyer's  interpretation.  [23.]  ev  r.  gSy.  Hades,  ^ii^IJ  is  the 
abode  of  all  disembodied  spirits  till  the  resiTrrection ;  not  the  place  of 
torment,  much  less  hell,  as  understood  commonly  in  the  E.  V.  Laz- 
arus was  also  in  Hades,  but  separate  from  Dives,  —  one  on  the  blissful, 
the  other  on  the  reprobate  side.  It  is  the  gates  of  Hades,  the  imprison- 
ment of  death,  which  shall  not  prevail  against  the  church  (Matt.  xvi. 
18) ;  the  Lord  holds  the  key  of  Hades  (Eev.  i.  18.) ;  himself  went  into 
the  same  Hades,  of  wliich  paradise  is  a  part.  Observe,  Abraham 
does  not  say,  "  they  will  not  repent,"  but  "they  will  not  believe, 
be  persuaded,"  which  is  another  and  a  deeper  thing.  Luther  does 
not  seem  to  conclude  rightly  that  this  disproves  the  possibility  of 
appearances  of  the  dead.  It  only  says,  that  such  appearances  will 
not  bring  about  faith  in  the  human  soul ;  but  that  they  may  not 
serve  other  ends  in  God's  dealings  with  men,  it  does  not  assert. 
There  is  no  gulf  between  the  earth  and  Hades ;  and  the  very  form  of 
Abraham's  answer  —  setting  forth  no  impossibility  in  this  second  case, 
as  in  the  former  —  Avould  seem  to  imply  its  possibility  if  requisite. 
We  can  hardly  pass  over  the  identity  of  tlie  name  Lazarus  Avith  that 
of  him  who  was  actually  recalled  from  the  dead,  but  whose  return,  far 
from  persuading  the  Pharisees,  was  the  immediate  exciting  cause  of 
their  crowning  act  of  unbelief. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

OFFENCES — PRAYER  FOR  FAITH  —  MIRACLES — DUTY  AND  MERIT 
—  TEX  LEPERS  CURED  —  ABSOLUTION  —  GRxVTITUDE — JESUS  IS 
GOD  —  ACTIVE  DUTY  IS  GRATITUDE  —  THE  KINGDOM — ITS  IN- 
NER   AND     ITS    OUTER    ASPECT  —  CHRISt's    SECOND    ADVENT 

lot's  wife. 

Our  Lord  states  that  as  long  as  this  dispensation  lasts, 
it  is  morally,  not  phvsicallj,  impossible  that  offences  of  some 
sort  shall  not  come  among  mankind.  As  long  as  the  tares 
are  mingled  with  the  wheat,  and  the  depraved  mingled  with 
the  good,  so  long  there  shall  be  obstruction  to  the  advance- 
ment of  the  good,  and  there  shall  be  developments,  more  or 
less  painful  and  offensive,  of  the  principles  of  evil.  But 
whilst  these  offences  shall  come,  God  is  not  to  be  blamed  for 
permitting  them  ;  it  is  man  who  is  really  guilty,  by  whom 
these  offences  are  committed.  And  therefore  he  says.  Bet- 
ter suffer  the  greatest  temporal  calamity  than  obstruct  the 
spi-ead  of  this  blessed  kingdom,  or  in  any  way  prevent  the 
influx  into  it  ©f  those  who  are  the  heirs  and  the  people  of 
God.  He  shows  that  moral  evil  is  far  greater  than  physical 
suffering;  and  that  the  greatest  physical  suffering,  even 
martyrdom  itself,  had  better  be  borne,  than  the  least  dis- 
credit or  dishonor  inflicted  upon  that  cause  of  which  Christ 
is  the  author  and  the  finisher,  and  whose  name  shall  receive 
the  glory.  And  in  order  to  nip  all  disputes  in  the  bud,  to 
anticipate  offences  that  will  come,  "  If  thy  brother  trespass 
against  thee,  rebuke  him,"  —  that  is,  tell  him  that  it  is  an 

29  *  (341) 


342  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

offence,  tell  him  distinctly  and  clearly,  and  without  any  equiv- 
ocation, "  It  is  wrong,"  and  if  after  you  have  told  him  of  his 
evil,  he  repent,  then  forgive  him.  The  way  of  the  world 
is,  —  If  thy  brother  offend  thee,  cease  ever  to  see  him,  or  to 
have  intercourse  w^itli  him  ;  injure  his  character  before  others, 
and  let  him  feel  the  effects  of  that  sin,  by  others  knowing  of 
it.  The  Christian  w^ay  is,  —  Go  to  thy  brother  in  private, 
tell  him  his  fault,  and  if  he  repent,  then  forgive  him  ;  and  if 
seven  times  a  day  he  sin  against  you,  and  say,  "  I  repent," 
forgive  him  —  that  is,  you  are  to  forgive  as  far  as  it  is  injury 
against  you,  whilst  at  the  same  time  this  does  not  prevent 
you  using  every  precaution  that  is  consistent  wath  duty  and 
with  Christian  principle,  that  the  offence  shall  not  again  be 
committed.  It  does  not  mean  that  you  are  to  open  your 
doors,  and  let  a  thief  enter  seven  times,  and  seven  times 
steal,  and  seven  times  repent ;  but  it  is,  when  he  has  done 
so,  you  are  to  forgive  him,  but  to  shut  the  door  afterwards, 
and  take  every  precaution,  not  only  for  your  own  sake,  but 
for  his,  that  he  does  not  commit  the  same  offence  again. 

When  the  apostles  heard  this  so  plainly  set  before  them, 
so  contrary  to  wdiat  the  Avorld  teaches,  and  recognizing  faith 
in  Christ  as  the  great  source  and  root  of  moral  duty,  they 
said,  not,  "  Increase  our  joy,"-  which  of  course  he  did,  nor 
"  Increase  our  love,"  nor  "  Increase  our  benevolence,"  but, 
"  Increase  our  faith."  Why  ?  Because  faith  worketh  by 
love,  purifieth  the  heart,  overcometh  the  world.  It  is  a 
parent  grace,  and  all  the  rest  are  the  offsprmg ;  and  what 
the  uncharitable  man  needs  is  not  first  increase  of  charity, 
which,  without  faith,  would  not  be  true  charity,  but  increase 
of  faith,  or  confidence  in  God,  from  wdiich  shall  spring  the 
love,  and  preference,  and  pursuit  of  whatsoever  things  are 
pure,  and  just,  and  honest,  and  lovely,  and  of  good  rejDort. 

Our  Lord,  in  the  fifth  verse,  seems  to  allude  to  what  is 
called  miraculous  faith.  "  If  ye  had  faith  as  a  grain  of  mus- 
tard-seed,"-— that  is,  the  least  quantity,  —  "ye  might  say 


LUKE    XVII.  343 

unto  this  sycamore  tree,  Be  thou  plucked  up  by  the  root, 
and  be  thou  planted  in  the  sea."  Now  it  is  quite  plain  that 
miracles  performed  by  faith  were  restricted  to  a  season; 
knowledge,  as  far  as  it  was  inspired,  has  ceased ;  faith,  as 
far  as  it  was  miraculous,  has  ceased ;  but  the  apostle  says, 
"  Love  endureth  "  or  abideth  "  for  ever."  God  does  not 
now  give  the  miraculous  response,  because  he  has  not 
given  previously  miraculous  faith.  He  may  give  it,  but 
we  must  always  judge  of  a  miracle  by  our  senses  ;  and  if  the 
miracle  be  not  done,  then  we  must  infer  that  faith  was  not 
given.  Those,  therefore,  that  say  there  ought  to  be  miracles 
in  the  Church  now,  must  either  conclude  that  there  are  no 
Christians  at  all  if  miracles  are  to  be  a  perpetual  thing,  or 
they  must  contradict  the  express  declaration  of  God  himself. 
AVhen  miracles  are  needed,  miracles  will  be  given ;  and 
when  miracles  are  given,  the  faith  that  can  do  them  will  be 
given  also.  But  after  all,  what  would  be  the  worth  of  a 
ceaseless  miracle  ?  it  would  cease  to  have  any  effect  at  all. 
The  miracle  is  now,  not  that  the  sun  rises  in  the  east,  to  use 
the  popular  phraseology,  describes  a  semicircle  in  the  south, 
and  sets  in  the  west ;  but  if  the  sun,  at  the  bidding  of  some 
one  possessed  of  faith  vouchsafed  by  God,  were  to  rise  in 
the  west,  and  describe  a  semicircle  in  the  north,  and  set  in 
the  east  for  one  day,  that  would  be  a  miracle.  But  if  the 
sun  were  always,  ever  afterwards,  to  rise  in  the  west,  it 
would  cease  to  be  regarded  as  a  miracle  calling  attention  to 
a  certain  moral  truth  —  it  would  come  to  be  regarded  as  one 
of  the  ordinary  and  every-day  laws  or  occurrences  of  nature. 
It  is  quite  plain,  therefore,  that  by  the  very  order  of  things, 
there  cannot  be  miracles  always.  A  miracle  is  so,  because 
it  is  a  startling  suspension  of  the  ordinary  course  of  events, 
calling  attention  to  some  great  truth.  Miracles  are  done, 
not  to  show  that  there  is  great  power,  but  to  illustrate  some 
grand  truth ;  and  a  miracle  that  is  not  the  pedestal  of  a 
great  truth,  is  not  a  miracle  from  God  at  all. 


344  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Our  Lord  gives  next  a  description  of  what  was  their  duty, 
and  their  obhgation  to  him.  He  illustrates  their  duty  by  a 
very  common  reference.  A  servant  is  paid  for  doing  his 
work  ;  the  servant  does  that  work.  He  has,  not  thereby  in- 
curred any  claim  for  extra  reward,  he  has  done  just  what 
he  was  paid  to  do,  and  what  it  was  his  duty  to  do.  So  the 
law  is  that  you  should  love  God  with  all  your  heart,  and 
your  neighbor  as  yourself ;  and  when  you  have  done  all,  you 
have  no  claim  upon  God  for  a  reward,  you  have  only  done 
what  was  your  duty.  And  how  completely  does  that  put  a 
stop  to  all  ideas  about  making  up  to-day  for  our  moral  de- 
fects of  yesterday.  Some  men  think,  Well,  if  I  was  bad  in 
the  past,  I  shall  be  good  in  the  future,  and  that  will  be  a 
sufficient  atonement.  But  when  you  have  acted  without 
fault  from  this  day  onward,  Avlien  you  act  without  flaw  or 
blemish  from  this  moment  forward,  you  have  only  done  what 
it  was  your  duty  to  do ;  and  no  exactitude  in  discharging 
the  duties  of  the  future  can  be  any  compensation  for  your 
having  neglected  any  of  your  duties  in  the  past.  You  are, 
when  you  have  done  all,  unprofitable  servants. 

We  come  to  a  very  striking  miracle  performed  by  our 
Lord  upon  ten  lepers.  There  were  ten  men  that  were 
lepers ;  there  was  one  Samaritan,  and  nine  were  Jews. 
Great  calamities  make  enemies  crowd  together;  a  heavy 
shower  makes  friend  and  foe  run  to  the  nearest  tree  or  roof 
for  shelter ;  a  common  calamity  makes  friends  of  men  that 
naturally  are  foes.  These  ten  —  a  Samaritan  and  nine  Jews 
—  involved  in  a  common  catastrophe,  ceased  to  quarrel  with 
each  other.  The  ten  lepers  stood  afar  off —  that  was  a  law 
of  the  leprosy,  as  we  shall  see  in  our  reading  of  the  book  of 
Leviticus,  in  the  course  of  our  morning  services ;  these  ten 
lepers  were  unclean,  and  they  had  to  stand  at  a  distance, 
with  their  hands  upon  their  mouths,  marked  and  known  to 
be  lepers,  and  to  call,  "  Unclean,  unclean."  They  might  not 
touch  any,  and  none  might  touch  them.     It  was  the  great 


LUKE  XVII.  345 

typical  disease  that  set  forth  the  nature  of  sin,  and  the 
estranging  power  of  sin  from  the  presence  of  a  holy  God. 
These  ten  lepers  saw  Jesus  pass  by,  and  they  cried,  "  Have 
mercy  on  us."  The  mercy  that  they  wanted  was  the  cure 
of  the  disease  that  they  felt ;  and  if  under  temporal  disease 
we  ask  for  cure,  may  Ave  not,  should  we  not,  under  spiritual 
disease  no  less  earnestly  beseech  it?  "When  Jesus  saw 
them,  he  said  unto  them.  Go,  show  yourselves  unto  the 
priests."  What  does  that  mean  ?  It  is  this.  The  priest  in 
thg  ancient  qfonomy  did  not  cure  leprosy.  Certain  divines 
pretend  that  the  priests,  or  rather  those  they  call  priests,  the 
ministers  of  the  present  economy,  have  the  power  to  forgive 
sin.  They  say  that  the  priest  of  old  had  power  to  cleanse 
from  leprosy,  and  by  parity  of  reasoning,  the  priest  now 
should  have  power  to  forgive  sin.  But  the  priest  of  old  had 
no  power  to  cleanse  from  leprosy ;  it  was  a  disease  that  God 
alone  could  cure,  and  all  that  the  priest  did  was  to  inspect 
the  person,  and  pronounce  him  clean,  or  pronounce  him  un- 
clean, as  symptoms  indicated.  And  therefore,  every  one 
who  was  laboring  under  that  disease  in  ancient  times,  incu- 
rable by  human  means,  went  to  the  priest,  and  showed  him- 
self as  our  Lord  here  prescribed ;  and  then  the  priest  said, 
You  are  either  clean,  or  you  are  still  unclean,  and  must 
stand  aloof  and  separate  from  the  rest  of  the  people.  And 
that  phraseology  that  occurs  in  the  Old  Testament  —  if  the 
priest  see  that  there  are  certain  marks  he  shall  j)ronounce 
him  unclean ;  but  if  the  priest  see  there  are  not  certain 
marks,  he  shall  pronounce  him  clean  —  in  the  Hebrew  it  is 
not  "  pronounce  clean,"  though  our  translators  have  very 
properly  rendered  it  so,  but  it  is,  "  the  priest  shall  uncleanse 
him,"  and  "  the  priest  shall  cleanse  him."  So  our  blessed 
Lord  used  the  phrase  "forgiving  sins,"  "Whose  sins  ye 
remit,  they  are  remitted  ;  whose  sins  ye  retain,  they  are 
retained."  That  is  Levitical  lano-uaire  taken  from  the  treat- 
ment  of  the  lepers,  and  evidently  implies,  "  Whose  sins  ye 


346  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

pronounce  to  be  forgiven,  by  evidence  submitted  that  they 
are  so,  and  whose  sins  ye  pronounce  to  be  retained,  on  the 
ground  of  evidence  that  they  are  retained ;  then  in  the  one 
case  they  are  forgiven,  and  in  the  other  case  they  are  re- 
tained." 

Now  these  ten  lepers  might  have  said  to  Jesus,  "  What  is 
the  use  of  showing  ourselves ^to  the  priest?  We  know  that 
we  are  not  cured,  —  we  know  that  we  are  afflicted  with 
leprosy."  But  he  said.  You  do  what  I  command  you,  and 
leave  the  issue  to  me ;  and  they  had  the  go^  sense  to  do 
this  little  thing  —  to  go  and  show  themselves  to  the  priest ; 
and  "  as  they  went,  they  were  cleansed."  In  the  way  of 
duty  we  may  expect  a  blessing.  Do  what  God  bids  you, 
and  ask  and  leave  him  to  help  you  and  bless  you  in  doing  it. 
Many  people  say,  "  I  cannot  come  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  be- 
cause I  am  afraid  I  am  not  fit."  The  command  is,  "  Do  this 
in  remembrance  of  me  ; "  and  in  doing  it  from  the  heart  you 
will  get  the  blessing  you  need  from  Him  that  bids  you. 
"And  as  they  went  they  were  cleansed."  Well,  one  of  them, 
when  he  saw  that  "  he  was  healed,"  felt  his  heart  too  loaded 
with  gratitude  to  go  to  the  priest  to  ascertain  from  him  that 
which  he  felt  within  himself;  he  therefore  returned  to  Jesus, 
"  and  with  a  loud  voice  glorified  God,"  —  evidently  recog- 
nizing Christ  as  God,  for  he  "  fell  down  on  his  face  at  his 
feet,"  it  is  said,  "  giving  him  thanks."  And  why  did  he  do 
so  ?  Because  the  leprosy  was  regarded  as  a  disease  that 
God  alone  could  cure ;  it  was  incurable  by  human  means  ; 
and  this  poor  Samaritan,  recognizing  in  his  own  case  a  cure 
effected  by  the  voice  of  Jesus,  recognized  in  the  Man  of 
Nazareth  the  majesty  of  God,  and  praised  and  glorified  him 
accordingly.  But  the  other  nine  were  so  delighted  with 
their  cure  that  they  forgot  the  great  Physician  that  cured 
them ;  like  the  nine  still,  alas !  who  receive  blessings  from 
God,  but  are  so  enamoured  of  the  blessings,  that  instead  of 
being  a  reflection  of  the  Giver,  the  gift  becomes  a  blind  that 


LUKE    XVII.  347 

conceals  him.  It  is  a  very  sad  and  a  very  humbling  thought, 
that  when  men  get  mercies,  instead  of  hearing  the  mercies 
preaching  the  God  that  bestows  them,  they  see  only  the 
mercy,  and  rest  forgetful  of  and  unthankful  to  the  Giver, 
Jesus  said,  "  There  are  not  found  that  returned  to  give  glory 
to  God,  save  this  stranger."  Strange  to  say,  this  one  who 
returned  was  not  a  Jew ;  he  had  not  had  such  great  privi- 
leges—  he  was  a  Samaritan,  a  stranger.  Jesus  comforted 
him  still  further ;  and  said,  "Arise,  go  thy  way ;  thy  faith 
hath  made  thee  whole."  He  fell  down  at  his  feet  thanking 
him,  and  thought  that  he  ought  to  cleave  to  so  great  a  bene- 
factor ;  but  Jesus  said,  "  There  are  duties  that  are  left  for 
you  to  discharge.  You  are  a  tradesman ;  you  are  a  i)hysi- 
cian,  or  a  soldier,  or  a  sailor ;  you  have  a  business  in  the 
world.  By  becoming  a  Christian  it  is  not  necessary  that 
you  should  renounce  this  world's  duties,  but  only  this  world's 
sins ;  and  you  will  show  best  your  Christianity  by  going 
down  to  the  least  duties  with  a  new  heart  to  discharge  them." 
Many  persons  when  they  become  Christians,  think,  "  I  ought 
to  forsake  the  old  paths  in  which  I  walked  before,  and  strike 
out  new  ones."  But  tliis  is  not  what  is  wanted.  We  do  not 
want  new  duties,  new  pursuits,  new  professions,  but  new 
grace  to  fulfil  the  obligations  of  the  old ;  and  when  we  have 
a  new  heart,  all  things  around  us,  shining  in  its  light  and 
sanctified  by  its  presence,  will  become  new  also. 

He  then  illustrates  the  nature  of  his  second  advent  in 
language  very  plain  and  beautiful;  but  very  solemn,  and 
much  of  it  very  awful.  "  When  he  was  demanded  of  the 
Pharisees,  when  the  kingdom  of  God  should  come,  he  an- 
swered tliem,  and  said,  The  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with 
observation."  To  whom  was  he  speaking  here  ?  He  was 
speaking,  not  to  his  own,  but  to  the  Pharisees.  These 
Pharisees  looked  for  a  kingdom  in  majesty  and  glory, — 
that  will  come ;  but  they  overlooked  a  kingdom  of  an  inner 
description  that  must  precede  it.     Never  forget  that   the 


348  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

kingdom  of  God  has  one  asj^ect  —  righteousness,  peace,  and 
joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost  within;  and  another  aspect  —  that 
is,  Christ's  own  personal  triumphant  reign  over  a  world 
regenerated,  requickened,  and  restored.  These  Pharisees 
looked  for  the  last,  but  the  first  they  did  not  like.  So  Christ 
says,  "  The  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  observation." 
It  is  a  gradual  expansion.  "  Neither  shall  they  say,  Lo 
here !  or,  lo  there ! "  —  as  if  this  kingdom  were  a  sudden 
burst  upon  the  earth ;  but  on  the  contrary,  he  says,  "  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  within  you."  That  does  not  mean  that 
it  was  in  the  hearts  of  these  Pharisees ;  for  they  hated  it ; 
but  "  the  kingdom  of  God  is  among  you,"  —  that  is,  the 
component  elements  of  it.  But  what  are  these  elements  ? 
The  apostle  well  defines  them  when  he  says,  "  The  kingdom 
of  God  is  not  meat  nor  drink,  but  righteousness,  and  peace, 
and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  Now  that  kingdom,  he  says 
to  the  Pharisees,  is  among  you ;  and  instead  of  looking  for 
the  lightning  that  one  day  shall  burst  upon  the  world,  look, 
ye  Pharisees,  for  the  shining  light  that  enlightens  the 
mind,  and  wakens  within  you  the  hopes  of  happiness  and 
heaven. 

But  he  tells  them  that  vv^hile  this  is  true,  there  shall  be 
also  another  revelation  of  himself;  and  that  men  shall  be  as 
they  Avere  in  the  days  of  Lot  and  in  the  days  of  Noah,  en- 
gaged and  absorbed  in  the  pursuits  of  the  world ;  and  then 
he  says,  the  Son  of  man  shall  be  revealed  as  the  lightning 
from  heaven.  "  As  the  lightning  that  lightenetli  out  of  the 
one  part  under  heaven,  shineth  unto  the  other  part  under 
heaven ;  so  shall  also  the  Son  of  man  be  in  his  day."  Now 
the  light  comes  gradually  —  shining  more  and  more  to  the 
perfect  day ;  but  the  lightning  comes  with  speed  and  splen- 
dor ;  it  is  no  sooner  seen  than  its  blow  or  its  effects  are  felt. 
Well  now,  he  says,  the  kingdom  of  God  within  you  will  be 
like  the  light  shining  to  noonday ;  but  the  coming  of  the 
King  of  glory  will  be  in  an  instant,  in  the  twinkling  of  an 


LUKE   XVII.  349 

eye,  when  you  expect  not  —  like  the  lightning  that  bursts  with 
sudden  splendor  upon  a  world  not  expecting  it. 

Then  he  tells  them  what  shall  be  the  consequence.  "  In 
that  day,  he  which  shall  be  upon  the  housetop,  and  his  stuff 
in  the  house,  let  him  not  come  down  to  take  it  away :  and 
he  that  is  in  the  field,  let  him  likewise  not  return  back." 
But,  you  ask,  what  can  be  the  sin  of  that?  At  present 
every  man  is  bound  to  take  care  of  the  stuff  that  is  in  his 
house ;  or  the  flock  that  is  in  the  field ;  that  is,  while  the 
light  shines;  but  when  the  lightning  comes  —  that  is,  when 
Christ  shall  be  revealed,  then  let  go  the  thoughts  of  a  world 
whose  day  is  gone,  and  whose  drama  is  finished ;  and  set 
your  hearts  on  a  higher  that  has  come,  when  Christ  shall  be 
revealed  the  second  time  without  sin  unto  salvation.  And 
he  says,  "  Remember  Lot's  wife."  Why  remember  her  ? 
Not  that  there  was  any  thing  in  her  peculiarly  instructive, 
except  the  great  sin  that  ruined  her.  What  was  that  ?  She 
left  Sodom,  you  recollect,  at  God's  bidding,  and  she  was  told 
not  to  look  back ;  but  w^ien  she  had  retired  a  few  feet  from 
it,  or  a  few  yards  from  it,  she  began  to  think  of  it.  "  My 
friends  are  there,  my  relations  are  there ;  my  house  is  there, 
my  property  is  there.  Am  I  quite  sure  that  God  said  so  ? 
Am  I  not  a  fanatic  to  leave  it  thus  ?  "  And  she  disobeyed 
God's  command,  and  looked  back,  and  became,  it  is  called 
in  Scripture,  "  a  pillar  of  salt."  I  do  not  say  that  she  was 
made  literally  a  pillar  of  muriate  of  soda  —  that  is,  the  com- 
mon salt  —  but  that  she  was  made  an  everlasting  monument 
of  God's  judgment.  It  is  singular  enough  however,  in  op- 
position to  this,  that  some  Americans,  —  I  do  not  vouch  for 
the  truth  of  it,  —  who  have  been  engaged  in  sounding  the 
Dead  Sea,  say  that  they  have  discovered  a  lofty  pillar  of  this 
description ;  and  that  they  believe  this  to  be  literally  the  pil- 
lar of  salt  into  which  Lot's  wife  was  turned  when  she  looked 
back  on  Sodom.  At  all  events,  they  have  found  a  very  re- 
markable monument  which  they  believe  to  be  so. 
30 


350  scRirxuRE  readings. 

The  great  sin  of  Lot's  wife  was,  that  whilst  her  body  had 
escaped  from  Sodom,  she  had  left  her  heart  and  her  soul  in 
it.  There  are  people  in  this  church  to-night  whose  bodies 
are  here,  but  whose  minds  are  in  their  counting-house,  or  on 
the  distant  ocean,  after  that  cargo  sent  off  to  America,  or  to 
Australia,  or  India.  Others,  again,  who  are  listening  to  me 
with  the  outward  ear,  have  the  greatest  possible  difficulty  in 
taking  their  heart,  their  mind,  their  memory  from  the  things 
of  this  world,  and  devoting  them  to  the  things  that  belong  to 
the  next.  I  know  there  is  a  difficulty  in  it.  If  your  minds, 
your  affections,  your  sympathies  were  entirely  in  the  sanc- 
tuary, you  would  not  be  in  this  world,  but  in  the  future 
world.  But  improvement  is  possible.  The  habit  of  atten- 
tion—  the  habit  of  constant  attention,  and  whenever  the 
mind  begins  to  wander  arresting  the  wavering  thoughts, 
calling  in  the  heart  that  goes  back  to  Sodom,  and  fixing  the 
attention  on  the  Zoar  that  is  before  you,  is  a  great  blessing. 
Then  he  tells  them  of  the  suddenness  of  his  arrival :  "  Two 
women  shall  be  grinding  together ;  the  one  shall  be  taken, 
and  the  other  left,"  —  the  one  saved,  the  other  a  sinner. 
And  when  they  asked,  "  Where,  Lord  ?  "  he  says.  Wherever 
sin  is,  there  judgment  comes  ;  wherever  guilt  is,  there  ven- 
geance will  be;  according  to  the  proverb,  that  wherever 
the  carrion,  or  the  body  is,  there  the  eagles  will  descend  to 
feed. 


CHAPTER  XVII.  20,  21. 

CARNAL  EXPECTATIONS  —  THE  COMING  KINGDOM NOT  NOW  WITH 

OBSERVATION  —  NO  VISIBLE  THRONE  YET  —  GROWTH  OF  THE  IN- 
NER KINGDOM  —  ITS  WEAPONS APPROACH FORMS TRUST 

BADGE  —  ONE  DAY  THE  KINGDOM  WILL  COME  WITHOUT  OBSER- 
VATION. 

When  our  Lord  "  was  demanded  of  the  Pharisees,  when 
the  kingdom  of  God  should  come,  he  answered  them  and 
said,  The  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  observation  ; 
neither  shall  they  say,  Lo  here  !  or,  lo  there  !  for  behold,  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  within  you." 

Our  Lord's  words  show  that  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees 
expected  a  temporal  dynasty  as  the  result  of  the  advent  of 
the  Messiah,  and  the  deliverance  of  their  land  from  the  yoke 
of  bondage  inflicted  upon  it  by  the  Roman  people.  When, 
therefore,  they  asked  of  Jesus  when  the  kingdom  of  God 
should  come,  they  neither  understood  by  the  expression 
Christ's  spiritual  ascendency  in  the  heart,  or  Christ's  terres- 
trial reign  and  triumph  over  all  his  enemies,  at  the  end  of 
the  age ;  but  a  carnal,  a  material,  a  political  dynasty,  which 
they  suf)posed,  according  to  the  traditions  of  the  elders,  and 
in  their  perversion  of  God's  Holy  Word,  the  Messiah  should 
come  to  establish  at  Jerusalem  and  in  the  midst  of  Palestiuje. 
The  only  emancipation  they  coveted  was  from  the  tax  that 
they  paid  to  the  Romans ;  the  only  ascendency  they  desired 
was  the  ascendency  of  Jerusalem,  their  capital,  as  the  mis- 
tress of  all  the  capitals  and  cities  of  the  globe ;  and  there- 

(351) 


b52  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

fore  when  they  asked  of  Christ,  "  AVhen  shall  this  kingdom 
of  God  come  ? "  they  had  an  idea  of  tliat  kingdom  utterly 
incompatible  with  its  militant  state.  Jesus  therefore  an- 
swers them  in  the  way  that  was  fitted  to  impress  upon  them 
a  salutary  lesson.  "  The  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with 
observation,"  —  or,  as  it  is  more  justly  translated  in  the 
margin,  "  with  outward  show,"  and  pomp,  and  splendor,  and 
military  grandeur,  and  imperial  circumstance,  as  you  sup- 
pose ;  neither  shall  they  say  of  it  as  a  visible  manifestation, 
"  Lo  here  !  "  or  a  second  group,  "  Lo  there  !  "  so  invisible 
is  it,  though  real,  that  it  is  in  the  midst  of  you  now,  though 
you  cannot  perceive  it.  For  you  will  observe  the  expres- 
sion, "  the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you,"  is  translated  more 
justly  in  the  margin,  "  the  kingdom  of  God  is  among  you," 
not  within  your  hearts,  Pharisees,  for  you  are  strangers  to 
it ;  but  among  your  people  where  you  rule  ;  though  you  can- 
not see  it,  it  is  no  less  on  that  account  a  reality. 

Thus,  there  are  two  aspects  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ; 
and  you  will  find  both  laid  down  in  this  chapter.  First, 
there  is  its  present  militant  aspect,  where  our  life  is  hid 
with  Christ  in  God ;  and  there  is  its  future  triumphant 
aspect,  when  the  sons  of  God  shall  no  more  be  hid,  but  shall 
be  visibly  manifested  as  the  heirs  of  God,  when  the  bride 
shall  be  ready,  when  the  Church  shall  be  presented  to  Christ 
a  glorious  church,  without  spot  or  blemish ;  when  every  eye 
shall  see  him,  and  all  shall  bless  him  and  be  blessed  in  him. 
But  in  the  mean  time  it  is  a  kingdom  that  comes  not  with 
observation ;  at  a  future  time  it  will  come  with  observation. 
It  is  not  here  taught  us  that  because  the  kingdom  cometh 
not  with  outward  pomp  now,  it  never  will  come  with  out- 
ward splendor.  And  in  fact,  to  say  so  is  to  contradict  the 
passage ;  for  you  will  perceive  that  after  he  has  told  them 
that  the  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  outward  show, 
and  that  the  kingdom  is  already  among  them,  he  adds  that 
one  day  it  shall  come  with  outward  show,  "  for  as  the  light- 


LrivE  XVII.  353 

ning,  that  ligliteneth  out  of  the  one  part  under  heaven, 
shineth  unto  the  other  part  under  heaven,  so  shall  also  the 
Son  of  man  be  in  his  day."  Now  it  conieth  not  with  out- 
ward show ;  then  it  shall  come  with  the  unexpected  speed 
and  the  dazzling  splendor  of  the  lightning,  that  illuminates 
the  whole  canopy  of  heaven ;  and  no  eye  shall  fail  to  dis- 
cern it,  and  no  heart  fail  to  feel  the  approach  of  him  who 
Cometh  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  accompanied  by  angels, 
with  power  and  great  glory,  whose  presence  is  everlasting, 
and  whose  name  endureth  forever.  But  at  present  we  have 
to  deal  with  this  kingdom  in  its  coming  not  with  outward 
show,  or  with  outward  pomp.     Let  us  see  why  this  is. 

First,  there  is  the  kingdom  of  God  composed  of  constitu- 
ent elements.  "The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  nor 
drink  ;  but  righteousness,  peace,  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Secondly,  there  is  the  kingdom  of  God  composed  of  living 
subjects,  who  are  the  servants  of  the  Master,  the  subjects 
of  the  great  King.  In  neither  sense  does  it  come  now  with 
outward  show  and  pomp.  Let  me  explain  how  it  does  not 
come  with  outward  show. 

First,  its  seat  is  not  a  visible  throne,  amid  the  splendor 
and  the  circumstance  of  a  visible  palace ;  its  seat  and  pres- 
ence is  in  the  lowly  and  in  the  individual  heart.  It  may  be 
within,  and  no  counterpart  that  makes  it  visible  without. 
The  countenance  may  be  calm,  the  face  composed,  and  yet 
within  the  individual  there  be  transacted  a  weightier  con- 
cern than  that  which  relates  to  dynasties  that  are  forming, 
or  to  kingdoms  that  are  asserting  their  power.  Its  seat  at 
present  is  not  an  outward  throne,  but  the  inward  heart ;  its 
influence  is  not  the  lightning  that  flashes  and  startles  by  its 
splendor,  but  the  quiet,  silent,  persistent  light  that  shineth 
more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day. 

Then,  in  the  second  place,  we  can  see  that  this  kingdom 
comes  not  with  observation,  from  the  nature  of  its  growth. 
It  is  not  something  that  appears  full-grown,  and  bursts  in 

30* 


354  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

its  maturity  upon  a  world  that  did  not  expect  it ;  it  is  a  liv- 
ing seed  cast  into  the  receptive  soil  of  a  living  heart ;  there, 
watered  by  the  dews  of  heaven,  warmed  by  the  sunshine  of 
heaven,  it  germinates,  it  grows  up,  it  buds,  it  gives  birth  to 
the  leaf,  then  the  ear,  then  tlie  full  corn  in  the  ear  —  all 
this  a  silent,  a  secret,  but  persistent  and  triumphant  process. 
The  progress  of  this  kingdom  is  like  all  the  great  processes 
of  nature  —  silent,  but  sure.  There  is  no  noise  in  the 
growing  corn,  there  is  no  sign  given  of  the  budding  of  the 
grass.  All  these  great  processes  are  in  quiet.  So  this  king- 
dom —  these  constituent  elements  —  righteousness,  peace, 
and  joy,  planted  like  seeds  in  the  human  heart,  germinate 
and  grow  up  in  secresy,  in  silence ;  but  are  sure  to  scent 
the  wide  earth  by  their  blossoms  and  benefit  mankind  by  its 
beautiful  fruits. 

The  weapons  with  which  this  kingdom  is  promoted,  come 
not  with  observation.  Its  weapons  are  not  battalions,  nor 
floating  banners,  nor  glittering  spears,  nor  beating  drums. 
Its  weapons  are  not  carnal,  that  is,  not  visible,  not  material, 
not  something  that  strikes  the  senses ;  and  because  they  are 
not  carnal,  the  apostle  logically  reasons,  they  are  mighty. 
These  weapons  are  prayer,  persistent,  but  secret ;  reading 
the  Scriptures,  meditation,  patience,  love,  truth.  These  are 
silent  forces ;  the  M^orld  can  take  no  notice  of  them.  It  can 
hear  the  whirlwind,  but  the  still  small  voice  of  love,  and 
peace,  and  truth  the  world  has  no  ear  for. 

The  symbols  by  which  the  progress  of  this  kingdom  is 
set  forth  in  Scripture,  all  indicate  its  quiet.  It  is  likened  to 
the  leaven  put  into  a  barrel  of  meal,  gradually  but  surely 
pursuing  its  course,  propagating  itself,  until  the  whole  mass 
is  saturated  and  pervaded  by  it.  As  the  light  that  first  giids 
the  eastern  hill-top,  and  spreads  and  increases  till  heaven 
and  earth  are  all  bathed  in  its  glory;  so  the  truth,  accepted 
into  the  understanding,  illuminating  the  mind ;  love,  admit- 
ted into  the  heart,  spreading  its  warmth    through   every 


LUKE  XVII.  355 

affection,  till  the  whole  man  is  brought  under  its  beneficent 
and  its  blessed  influence.  It  is  the  wind  blowing  where  it 
listeth ;  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  thou  knowest 
not  whence  it  cometh  nor  wliither  it  goeth.  So  is  this 
kingdom  —  so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit.  It 
cometh  not  with  observation ;  it  is  in  silence,  in  secret,  but 
with  power. 

This  kingdom  erects  where  it  comes  no  throne,  establishes 
no  royal  hierarchy,  constitutes  no  outward  organization.  It 
does  not  change  governments,  nor  propose  to  raise  armies  or 
to  equip  navies ;  it  sends  no  trumpet  before  it,  wears  no 
broad  phylactery,  does  not  stand  in  the  streets  and  corners 
of  the  town  making  long  prayers,  shrinks  from  pomp,  hates 
pretension,  speaks  simply,  lets  the  world  judge  of  it  by  its 
quiet  and  peaceable  fruits,  not  by  its  pomp,  its  parade,  and 
its  pretension. 

The  forms  and  ceremonies  that  accompany  it  are  all 
simple,  and  make  no  impression  upon  the  senses.  A  great 
evidence  that  the  Romish  Church  is  not  a  pure  one  is  that 
it  comes  with  observation.  You  cannot  mistake  the  ap- 
proach of  a  Cardinal  to  a  continental  city ;  he  comes  with 
trumpets  and  with  drums,  and  with  all  the  pomp  and  splen- 
dor of  a  military  conqueror.  You  cannot  say  that  the  king- 
dom does  not  come  with  observation  when  the  Pope  is  at- 
tended by  emperors,  and  the  highest  holds  the  bridle  of  his 
horse,  and  the  most  illustrious  wait  upon  his  bidding.  All 
this  is  observation.  You  cannot  say  that  this  is  the  king- 
dom here  described.  And  when  the  host  is  consecrated, 
banners  are  waved  and  cannon  sound ;  all  this  is  quite  alien 
to  that  definition  of  the  kingdom  of  God :  it  cometh  not  with 
outward  show:  its  simple  sacrament  is  baptism,  a  little 
water  sprinkled  on  a  babe's  brow,  not  to  make  regeneration, 
but  to  teach  that  it  is  necessary;  the  Lord's  Supper  is  a 
little  bread  and  wine  eaten  by  humble  Christian  men  and 
women  at  the  Lord's  board  or  the  communion  table.     There 


356  SCRIPTURE   RK.VDINGS. 

is  no  pomp,  or  splendor,  or  circumstance  that  either  im- 
presses the  senses  or  indicates  the  approach  of  a  kingdom 
with  outward  show.  "We  have  no  gorgeous  robes,  no  grand 
processions,  no  ascending  incense,  no  waving  banners — in 
short,  we  have  a  kingdom  that  cometh  not  with  observation 
and  with  outward  show. 

The  force  that  this  kingdom  depends  upon  is  not  the  pat- 
ronage of  the  great,  or  the  riches  of  the  wealthy,  or  the 
learning  of  the  wise.  It  was  true  at  its  first  dawn  what  is 
very  extensively  true  still,  "  Not  many  great  men,  not  many 
mighty  men,  not  many  noble  men  are  called ;  but  God  hath 
chosen  the  weak  things  of  the  Avorld  to  confound  the  mighty  ; 
and  things  that  are  not,  to  bring  to  nought  the  things  that 
are."  It  depends  upon  the  inward  influence  of  heavenly 
truth,  upon  the  constraining  power  of  irresistible  love,  upon 
the  sway  of  moral  and  spiritual  truth  in  the  conscience  of  man, 
the  true  holy  of  holies,  the  consecrated  realm  of  right  and 
wrong.     The  kingdom  of  God  is  among  you. 

Its  effects  upon  outward  society  show  that  in  its  most  tri- 
umphant march  it  comes  not  with  outward  show.  It  does 
not  pull  down  kings  to  set  up  a  republic ;  it  does  not  try 
to  disorganize  a  republic  in  order  to  set  up  a  king.  If  a 
Christian  goes  to  America  he  conforms  to  all  its  law^s,  and 
prays  for  the  republic  —  the  powers  that  be  ;  if  he  goes  to 
Turkey,  he  conforms  to  its  laws,  andprays  for  the  sultan  — 
the  powers  that  be ;  and  if  he  comes  to  Britain  he  conforms 
to  all  •  its  laws,  and  prays  for  our  gracious  Queen  —  the 
powers  that  be :  in  short,  Christianity  does  not  propose  rev- 
olutions, which  can  be  done  at  a  random  blow ;  but  it  at- 
tempts a  reformation,  which  is  a  slow,  a  gradual,  Imt  a  sure 
and  triumphant  process.  It  benefits  nations  by  sanctifying 
individuals  ;  it  purifies  the  nations  by  regenerating  indi- 
vidual hearts ;  it  transforms  a  continent  by  translating  its 
individuals  one  by  one  from  the  kingdom  of  Satan  into  the 
kingdom  of  God's  dear  Son.     It  seeks  to  improve,  elevate, 


LUKE  XVII.  357 

ennoble  the  whole  mass  of  society  by  implanting  patiently, 
laboriously,  prayerfully,  the  seeds  of  righteousness  and  truth 
in  each  individual  and  single  heart.  It  makes  the  forest  to 
have  good  trees  and  to  bear  much  fruit  by  beginning  with 
each  tree  in  succession.  It  makes  the  streams  of  national 
well-being  pure,  by  making  the  fountain  of  individual  homes 
happy.  It  begins  within,  it  drives  outward  until  the  whole 
mass  is  assimilated  to  him  whose  commission  it  executes,  in 
seeking  to  comfort  and  to  bring  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth  all  that  are  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death. 

In  the  next  place,  to  show  that  it  does  not  come  with  out- 
ward observance,  or  with  outward  show,  its  badge  is  not  a 
magnificent  robe,  nor  pharisaic  phylactery,  nor  is  it  a  shib- 
boleth pronounced  by  one  and  repeated  by  another,  nor  is 
it  a  monk's  cowl,  nor  a  noble's  coronet,  nor  a  bishop's  mitre ; 
nor  is  it  a  Romanist's  crucifix.  These  are  all  things  of  ob- 
servation. But  the  badge  of  this  kingdom  is  something 
more  beautiful  than  any,  more  splendid  than  them  all. 
What  is  that  badge  ?  "  By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye 
are  my  disciples,  if  ye  love  one  another."  That  is  its  badge ; 
an  inner,  but  a  real  one ;  it  comes  not  with  observation  ;  it 
belongs  to  the  heart,  it  is  traceable  only  by  its  fruits.  "  If 
ye  love  me,  keep  my  commandments." 

Its  constituent  elements  are  also  evidences  that  it  cometh 
not  with  observation.  These  are  "  righteousness "  —  an 
inner,  not  an  outward  thing  —  "peace,  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 
It  is  not  fasting,  which  may  be  seen,  nor  feasting,  which  can 
be  understood ;  but  righteousness,  peace,  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

Thus  we  see  that  this  kingdom,  or  religion,  that  is,  Christ's 
influence,  comes  not  witli  outward  shoAv,  but  is  an  inward, 
spiritual  power,  touching  and  transforming  by  its  touch  the 
individual  heart,  till  families  become  Christians,  and  the 
congregation  of  families  make  nations  Christians,  and  na- 
tions make  continents  Christians,  and  whole  masses  of  man- 


358  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

kind  are  brought  under  the  sanctifying  and  ennobhng  influ- 
ence of  a  kingdom  which  comes  not  with  observation,  but 
changes  hearts,  that  thus  it  may  elevate  and  ennoble 
realms. 

But  let  me  not  fail  to  add  that  this  kingdom  will  one  day 
come  with  observation.  Our  Lord  speaks  of  it  in  the  pres- 
ent tense,  it  cometh  not  now  with  observation ;  but  he  states, 
in  the  24th  verse,  that  one  day  it  will  come  with  observation. 
A  day  will  be,  then,  when  it  ceases  to  be  the  light  that  grad- 
ually brightens  to  the  perfect  day,  and  flashes  like  the  light- 
ning that  comes  unexpectedly  upon  the  careless  and  thought- 
less wanderer.  His  reign  now  is  in  the  hearts  of  saints  ;  his 
presence  now  is  at  the  door  of  sinners,  pleading  as  a  sup- 
pliant for  admission.  But  when  he  comes  like  the  lightning 
he  will  be  no  more  the  suppliant  seeking  admission  to  the 
heart,  but  the  sovereign  asserting  his  supremacy,  and  dis- 
tinguishing his  subjects  from  those  that  are  rebellious,  when 
he  comes  to  be  glorified  in  all  them  that  believe.  His  second 
coming  is  described  plainly  as  a  coming  with  observation. 
"  For  as  the  lightning,  that  lighteneth  out  of  the  one  part 
under  heaven,  shineth  unto  the  other  part  under  heaven, 
so  shall  also  the  Son  of  man  be  in  his  day."  "  And  then 
shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man  in  heaven"  — 
that  is,  with  observation  —  "  then  shall  all  the  tribes  of  the 
earth  mourn ;  and  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in 
the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great  glory.  And  he 
shall  send  his  angels  with  a  great  sound  of  a  trumj^et,  and 
they  shall  gather  together  his  elect  from  the  four  winds,  from 
one  end  of  heaven  to  the  other."  And  the  apostle  says, 
"  And  to  you  who  are  troubled,  rest  with  us,  when  the  Lord 
Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels, 
in  flaming  fire  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God 
and  that  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ; 
who  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power ;  when 


LUKE    XVII.  359 

he  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  to  be  ad- 
mired in  all  them  that  believe." 

It  will  thus  come  one  day  with  great,  irresistible  obser- 
vation, with  outward  show,  with  unexpected  glory.  But  let 
us  know  that  if  we  belong  to  the  kingdom  that  cometh  not 
with  observation,  we  shall  hail  with  shouts  of  welcome  that 
kingdom  when  it  comes  in  power  and  great  glory.  Ai'e  we 
the  subjects  of  this  inner  kingdom  now  —  are  our  hearts 
changed  by  its  touch  —  are  our  affections  consecrated  by  its 
presence  —  are  we  truly  regenerate  —  are  we  made  the 
sons  of  God,  the  subjects  of  the  Great  King,  the  heirs  of 
Christ  ?  If  we  be  so,  if  we  make  sure  of  the  influence  of 
the  kingdom  in  our  inner  life,  we  shall  not  be  alarmed  or 
surprised  at  that  day  when  He  that  came  in  lowliness  to 
suffer,  and  now  seeks  admission  to  every  heart,  shall  come 
again  in  power  and  great  glory  to  reign ;  for  to  them  that 
look  for  him  he  will  come  the  second  time  without  sin  unto 
salvation. 


Note,  —  The  example  of  the  days  of  Lot  is  added  here ;  and  there- 
by the  sanction  of  the  Lord  of  truth  given  to  another  part  of  the  sa- 
cred record,  on  "which  modern  criticism  has  laid  its  unhallowed  hands. 
[34]  indicates  a  closer  relationship  than  that  of  mere  fellow-workmen, 
and  sets  forth  the  division  of  even  families  in  that  day.  [37.]  ttov, 
not  "how?"  (Kinnoel);  but  literal,  "where  shall  this  happen?'* 
The  disciples  know  not  the  universality  of  this  which  the  Lord  is 
announcing  to  them,  and  which  his  dai*k  and  awful  saying  proclaims. 
Observe,  there  is  not  a  word,  except  so  far  as  the  greater  coming  in- 
cludes the  lesser,  in  all  this,  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  The 
future  TrapovGia  of  the  Lord  is  the  only  subject,  and  thus  it  is  an  en- 
tirely distinct  discourse  from  that  in  Matt,  xxiv.,  or  our  chap.  xxi.  — 
Alford. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  IMPORTUNATE  WIDOW — FAITH  AT  THE  ADVENT  —  THE  PHARI- 
SEE AND  PUBLICAN  —  INFANTS  BROUGHT  TO  JESUS — THE  YOUNG 
RULER  — WEALTH  —  FORSAKING  ALL. 

The  first  parable  recorded  in  the  chapter  I  have  read 
is  commonly  called  the  parable  of  the  importunate  widow, 
or  of  her  that  would  not  be  satisfied  without  havinfj;  <2:ranted 
to  her  those  things  which  she  so  persistently,  so  earnestly 
and  so  successfully  sought.  The  object  of  it  is  to  illustrate 
the  value  of  persistency  in  prayer,  it  is  an  argument  from 
the  less  to  the  greater  :  if  a  human  judge  could  thus  be 
moved  by  the  persistency  of  a  petitioner  he  despised,  how 
much  more  will  God  accept  the  prayers  of  a  persistent  peti- 
tioner whom  he  loves,  and  for  whom  he  gave  his  own  Son 
to  die?  We  are  not  to  suppose  that  God  is  to  be  overcome 
simply  by  importunity,  or  that  much  speaking  is  much  elo- 
quence in  prayer.  It  does  not  teach  this.  All  that  the 
parable  teaches  us  is,  that  we  are  not  to  be  satisfied  with 
asking  once  or  twice,  but  to  ask  until  we  obtain.  God's 
promise  is  absolute  that  he  will  hear  prayer,  but  how  often 
you  shall  pray  he  has  not  revealed  to  you.  He  asks  your 
.  ceaseless  dependence  on  him,  your  ceaseless  prayer  to  him ; 
and  sooner  or  later  —  not  too  soon,  to  make  you  proud,  nor 
too  late,  to  let  you  despair  —  he  will  grant  you  those  things 
which  you  earnestly  and  importunately  ask  of  him. 

Now  this  unjust  judge  said,  ''  Though  I  fear  not  God  "  — 
have  no  religion  —  "  nor  regard  man,"  —  care  not  for  jus- 

(360) 


LUKE    XVIII.  361 

tice,  but  simply  look  for  my  stipend  for  the  duties  that  I  ain 
appointed  to  discharge  ;  yet  because  this  widow,  to  whom  I 
have  no  liking,  but  the  reverse,  troubles  me  day  after  day, 
"  I  will  avenge  her,"  —  that  is,  I  will  judge  that  cause  that 
she  submits  to  me,  — "  lest  by  her  continual  coming  she 
weary  me  ;  "  it  is  literally,  "  lest  she  smite  me  on  the  face,"  — 
it  is  the  strongest  expression  for  intolerable  importunity. 
Jesus  said,  "Hear  what  the  unjust  judge  saith.  And  shall 
not  God  avenge,"  —  that  is,  right  the  wrongs,  defend  the 
cause,  and  grant  the  requests  of — "his  own  elect"  —  or 
Christian  people  —  "  which  cry  day  and  night  unto  him," 
though  he  seem  to  us,  who  are  no  judges  of  the  times  and 
the  seasons,  to  bear  very  long  with  them  ?  "I  tell  you  that 
he  will  avenge  them  speedily.  Nevertheless,  when  the  Son 
of  man  cometh,"  —  that  is,  his  second  advent,  —  "shall  he 
find  faith  on  the  earth  ?  "  There  are  two  interpretations  of 
this  text.  One  is.  Shall  he  find  faith  —  that  is,  Clmstianity  • 
—  upon  the  earth  at  all  ?  Will  not  the  earth  be  exhausted 
of  its  religion  —  the  fruit  become  sere,  and  dry,  and  dead  ? 
And  the  other  interpretation,  which  looks  the  more  probable, 
is.  Shall  he  find  faith  in  this  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  when  he 
comes  again  to  judge  the  earth  ?  Men,  fearing  that  God 
has  forgotten  them,  will  cease  to  pray ;  and  ceasing  to  pray 
they  will  fail  to  obtain  the  blessings  and  the  mercies  that 
they  need.  But  certainly,  in  Avhatever  light  you  regard  it, 
every  prophecy  of  the  close  of  this  dispensation  and  the 
dawn  of  the  commencement  of  another,  leads  us  to  suppose 
that  whilst  God's  people  will  exist  upon  the  earth,  they  will 
be  reduced  to  very  small  numbers,  and  the  great  and  over- 
whelming majority  of  mankind  will  be  asking  in  scorn, 
"  Where  is  the  promise  of  his  advent  ?  for  since  the  fathers 
fell  asleep,  all  things  continue  as  they  were.  Let  us  eat, 
drink,  and  be  merry."  Just  as  if  there  were  no  God  in 
heaven,  and  no  judgment  known  upon  the  earth. 

He  then  spoke  "  this  parable  unto  certain  which  trusted 
31 


362  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

in  themselves."  '  I  do  not  think  that  this  was  spoken  to  the 
Pharisees :  if  it  had  been  spoken  to  them  it  would  have  ex- 
asperated them,  and  we  shoukl  have  had  their  reply  to  it ; 
but  it  was  spoken  to  men  that  justified  themselves,  and 
thought  they  were  really  righteous,  because  of  their  ceremo- 
nial exactitude,  when  they  were  not  so  at  all.  "  Two  men 
went  up  into  the  temple  to  pray."  That  was  good  ;  their 
going  to  church  was  a  good  thing,  but  not  all.  Their  going 
to  church  to  pray  was  still  better  than  to  go  to  churcli  to 
hear  sermons.  A  Romanist  says  —  "I  go  to  mass  ; "  some 
Protestant  Christians  say,  "  We  are  going  to  pray ; "  and  a 
great  many  others  say,  "  We  are  going  to  hear  a  sermon." 
Now  it  ought  neither  to  be  the  second  nor  the  last.  We  ought 
neither  to  be  a  praying  church  exclusively,  nor  a  preaching 
church  exclusively ;  but  prayer  and  preaching,  the  one  the 
nutriment  and  the  refreshment  of  the  other.  We  go  to 
church,  therefore,  not  simply  to  hear  a  minister  preach,  but 
to  bow  the  knee  and  seek  blessings  from  the  God  who  has 
them  to  bestow.  We  ought  not  so  much,  therefore,  to  let 
sittings  in  the  churcli  as  to  let  kneelings  in  the  church  :  there 
should  be  places  for  the  knee  to  kneel,  there  are  necessities 
and  wants  that  every  heart  has  to  ask  of  Him  )vho  has 
promised  graciously  to  bestow  them. 

Of  these  two  men  one  was  a  Pharisee,  —  of  a  proud  and 
contemptuous  sect ;  and  the  other  was  a  Publican,  or  a  tax- 
gatherer  appointed  by  the  Romans  to  collect  the  tribute. 
The  expression  used  to  denote  the  difference  between  the 
two  is  very  remarkable.  It  is  said  that  "  the  Pharisee 
stood  and  prayed ; "  and  that  "  the  Publican,  standing  afar 
off."  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  strict  meaning 
of  this  expression  is  that  the  Pharisee  sat  and  prayed,  and 
that  the  Publican  stood  and  prayed.  The  Greek  word 
descriptive  of  the  Pharisee  means  properly,  composing  him- 
self—  arranging  and  composing  his  posture,  as  a  painter 
would  make  a  person  sitting  for  his  likeness  compose  him- 


LUKE   XVIII.  363 

self,  in  order  to  sketch  him  truly ;  or  as  a  person  wishing  to 
be  admired  Mould  adjust  his  robes,  and  take  up  the  most 
elegant  and  impressive  position.  That  is  the  meaning  of 
the  Greek  Avord,  —  the  Pharisee  composed  himself  into  a 
position  of  dignity,  of  grandeur,  of  pretence.  But  it  is  a 
totally  different  Avord  that  is  used  for  the  Publican.  The 
Publican  standing,  literally  standing,  on  his  feet;  the  atti- 
titude  of  one  that  felt  his  great  unworthiness,  and  sought 
mercy  and  grace  to  forgive  him. 

Well  now,  the  Pharisee,  after  having  adjusted  himself  to 
pray  as  became  a  great  ecclesiastic,  as  we  might  say,  a  car- 
dinal in  the  church,  said,  "  God,  I  thank  thee."  He  begins, 
not  like  a  sinner,  first  seeking  mercy ;  but  like  one  who  had 
need  of  none,  first  giving  tlianks.  It  was  right  to  thank 
God ;  it  was  wrong  to  omit  to  pray  to  God.  He  gave  a 
eucharistic  offering  like  Cain,  without  previously  pleading 
the  expiatory  sacrifice,  like  Abel.  "  God,  I  thank  thee  "  — 
but  then  his  thanks  were  mingled  with  the  most  contemptu- 
ous pride  —  "  I  thank  thee,"  not  that  thou  hast  enriched  me,, 
that  thou  hast  blessed  me ;  but  "  I  thank  thee  that  I  am  not 
as  other  men  are,"  —  as  if  he  were  a  choice  specimen  of 
humanity ;  one  not  polluted  by  its  taint,  or  j)recipitated  into 
its  ruin,  —  "I  thank  thee  that  I  am  not  as  other  men  are, 
extortioners,  unjust,  adulterers,"  —  and  all  this  might  be 
quite  true,  —  "  or  even  as  this  Publican,"  —  ^.  e.  as  this  con- 
temptible, mean,  ungodly  Publican.  How  true  is  it  that 
tliey  that  regard  themselves  as  righteous  despise  others  — 
"  Stand  aside  ;  I  am  holier  than  thou  !  "  And  secondly,  he 
says,  I  am  not  only  free  from  flagrant  wickedness ;  which 
was  so  far  good,  and  a  Pharisee  may  be  that ;  but  I  also 
attend  to  every  ceremonial  observance,  "  I  fast  twice  in  the 
Aveek,"  —  which  Avas  once  more  than  the  LaAv  required.  I 
give  titlies,  too,  not  of  certain  things,  as  the  LaAV  requires  — 
but,  "I  give  tithes  of  all  tliat  I  po-sess."  And  tiserefore  tlie 
inference  is,  What  a  beauLii'ul  specimen  am  I  of  a  Jew  !. 


364  SCRIPTURK     READINGS. 

What  a  noble  ecclesiastic  am  I !  How  worthy  are  Phari- 
sees that  sit  in  Moses'  seat ;  how  justly  should  they  make 
broad  their  jihylacteries ;  how  truly  should  they  refuse  to 
descend  and  stand  upon  the  same  dead  level  with  these 
coarse,  vulgar  Publicans  !  He  was  a  thorough  high-church- 
man ;  the  Publican  was  a  poor,  mean,  contemptible  crea- 
ture, that  he  could  not  think  would  be  accepted  of  the  same 
God,  or  admitted  into  the  same  heaven. 

The  Publican,  however,  true  to  his  character,  stood  afar 
off;  no  composure  of  his  robes,  but  at  a  great  distance  from 
the  altar  and  from  the  holy  place ;  and  he  "  would  not  lift 
up  so  much  as  his  eyes  unto  heaven,"  because  conscious  of 
his  sins,  "  but  smote  upon  his  breast,  saying,  God  be  merci- 
ful " —  be  merciful  by  the  medium  of  atonement  —  "  God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  If  that  Pharisee  be  a  righteous 
man,  I  do  not  venture  to  judge  him ;  but  I  am  sure  that  of 
the  two  I  am  sinful  —  be  merciful  to  me  the  sinful  one.  Our 
Lord  says,  "  I  tell  you,  this  man  "  —  the  Pubhcan  —  "  went 
down  to  his  house  justified."  The  word  rather  which  follows 
is  in  italics  in  the  Bible,  and  is  not  in  the  original  —  went 
down  justified,  and  the  other  not  justified  at  all.  The  one 
sought  pardon  by  Christ,  justification  by  his  righteousness, 
and  he  got  it:  the  other  sought  justification  by  his  own  mer- 
its, and  an  entrance  into  heaven  in  virtue  of  his  own  doings, 
and  he  did  not  get  it.  And  therefore  "  every  one  that  ex- 
alteth  himself  shall  be  abased ;  and  he  that  humbleth  him- 
self shall  be  exalted." 

The  next  incident  in  this  combination  of  incidents  is  that 
parents  —  in  all  probability  the  mothers,  who  always  feel 
deepest  for  the  well-being  of  their  offspring;  and  I  know 
not  a  more  touching  or  beautiful  spectacle  than  this  — 
brought  their  children,  literally  translated,  their  infants.  It 
is  not  the  word  which  we  render  '•  little  boys ;  "  but  which 
means  "  babes  at  the  breast,"  nursed  in  the  bosom.  They 
brought  their  infants  to  Jesus,  asking  him  that  he  would 


LUKE   XVIII.  365 

only  touch  them ;  that  thus,  not  their  physical  diseases,  of 
which  they  had  none,  might  be  removed;  but  that  they 
might  have  the  stamp  and  impress  of  his  image,  and  be  thus 
the  heirs  of  glory.  "  And  when  his  disciples  saw  it,  they 
rebuked  them."  How  much  less  merciful  is  man  than  the 
blessed  Master ;  how  justly,  — "  Let  me  not  fall  into  the 
hands  even  of  an  apostle,  but  into  the  hands  of  Christ."  If 
Christ  had  no  more  mercy  than  his  people  are  disposed  to 
have  to  their  brethren  of  mankind,  it  would  fare  very  ill 
with  the  best  of  us.  "  Jesus  called  them  unto  him,  and  said, 
Suffer  little  cliildren,"  —  that  is,  I  command  that  little  chil- 
dren come  unto  me,  and  on  no  account  dare  to  forbid  them ; 
for  to  do  so  is  to  violate  the  very  law  of  my  heavenly  king- 
dom ;  for  such  infants  constitute  the  majority  of  the  heaven- 
ly inhabitants  that  praise  my  Father  beside  the  throne  for 
ever  and  for  ever.  I  think  I  have  noticed  before,  that  I 
never  can  admit  the  idea  that  this  means,  of  such  like  char- 
acter. This  he  does  say,  and  he  says  it  in  the  next  verse ; 
but  he  does  not  say  so  here.  The  Greek  word  means,  "  for 
of  such  very  persons,  of  such  very  infants,  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,"  —  that  is,  the  majority.  I  need  not  tell  you  how 
easy  it  is  to  explain  this.  The  fact  is  notorious  that  half  the 
human  race  die  before  seven  years  of  age.  It  is  a  very  mel- 
ancholy fact ;  we  never  can  suppose  that  God  meant  this  to 
have  been  so  —  that  half  the  buds  that  burst  into  birth 
should  be  blasted  in  the  course  of  a  very  few  years  ;  that 
another  large  section  of  the  remaining  half  should  perish 
from  the  great  English  disease,  pining  consumption,  by  one- 
and-twenty,  or  four-and-twenty ;  that  only  one  hcTe  and  one 
there  should  reach  seventy,  and  that  so  very  few  should  ar- 
rive at  the  proper  limit  of  life  —  one  hundred  and  twenty. 
I  say,  this  is  strange ;  it  is  only  explicable  upon  the  hypoth- 
esis that  a  great  wasting  curse  has  fallen  upon  the  world, 
and  that  an  atmosphere  once  serene,  pure,  bright,  and  full 
of  vitality,  is  tainted  and  corrupted  by  man's  transgressions. 


366  SCllIPTURE    HEADINGS. 

If  then  it  be  true  that  half  the  human  family  die  in  infancy ; 
and  if  it  be  also  true,  as  I  have  proved,  (and  I  have  pub- 
lished what  I  proved,)  that  all  infants,  baptized  or  unbaptiz- 
ed,  Churchmen  or  Dissenters'  infants,  unbehevers'  or  heath- 
en's infants,  infidels'  or  atheists'  infants  —  that  all  children 
dying* in  infancy,  before  seven,  eight,  or  nine  years  of  age  — 
that  is,  before  responsibility  —  are  admitted  instantly  into 
glory,  —  if  that  be  true,  then  half  the  human  race  is  saved 
every  day  ; .  and  the  grandest  choirs  in  the  realms  of  glory 
will  be  babes  that  were  gathered  from  earth  before  they  were 
largely  contaminated  with  its  pollution,  Avashed  in  atoning 
blood,  clothed  in  the  righteousness  of  the  Lamb,  and  now  in 
the  full  majority  of  everlasting  youth,  praising  him  that  re- 
deemed them,  and  w^aiting  for  the  day  when  that  most  pain- 
ful and  sorrowful  of  all  spectacles,  a  dead  infant's  dust,  shall 
hear  the  sound  of  the  last  trumpet,  and  so  shall  soul  and 
body  be  for  ever  with  the  Lord.  I  know  nothing,  therefore, 
more  comforting  to  a  parent  than  this  —  that  her  dead  in- 
fants have  been  specially  favored  ;  they  have  been  spared  a 
long  life  of  trial,  of  tears,  of  temptation,  and  of  sorrow ;  and 
they  have  been  admitted  to  the  crown  without  the  martyr- 
dom, to  the  reward  without  the  struggle,  to  the  victory  with- 
out the  fight.  Of  such  infants  consist  a  majority  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  kingdom  of  heaven !  Blessed  thought ! 
thanks  be  to  God  that  where  sin  has  made  its  greatest  havoc 
grace  is  reaping  its  noblest  and  its  most  majestic  trophies. 
And  while  I  am  upon  this  subject,  I  may  ask,  as  I  have  done 
before,  not  in  the  spirit  of  controversy,  of  our  Baptist  breth- 
ren, if  such  be  present.  If  babes  are  thus  admitted  by  Christ 
into  heaven,  does  it  seem  very  wrong,  very  unnatural,  very 
inconsistent  to  your  honest  judgments,  that  they  should  be 
presented  at  the  baptismal  font  to  be  blessed  by  the  prayers, 
and  consecrated  by  the  thanksgivings  of  a  Christian  congre-: 
gation  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  if  babes  were  not  to  be  bap- 
tized, a  positive  prohibition  would  have  been  given ;  but  the 


LUKE  xviir.  367 

fact  that  there  is  no  such  prohibition  is  to  my  mind  the  strong- 
est presumption  that  it  is  right.  If  these  babes  be  fit  for  the 
Master's  presence,  why  unfit  for  the  minister's  ?  If  these 
babes  have,  when  they  die,  their  regeneration  that  fits  them 
for  heaven,  why  may  they  not  receive  in  the  flesh  the  sprink- 
ling with  water  that  makes  them  outward  members  of  the 
visible  Church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ?  And  here  I  may 
make  a  very  useful  remark.  Parents  whose  babes  are  dy- 
ing have  sometimes  said  to  me,  "  Will  you  come  and  baptize 
my  child  ?  "  I  rejoice  to  go ;  but  I  take  care  to  explain  this  ; 
"  If  the  babe  be  dying,  it  has  got  a  better  baptism  than  I  can 
give  it.  If  it  live,  baptism  is  the  proper  thing ;  for  baptism 
presupposes  life,  never  presupposes  death.  Baptism  is  for 
the  church  militant ;  the  inner  baptism  is  for  the  church  tri- 
umphant ;  and  if  your  babe  be  dying  it  needs  not  baptism ; 
it  is  not  going  to  enter  the  church  militant ;  it  has  undergone 
the  inward  regeneration,  to  fit  it  for  the  church  triumphant." 
But,  at  the  same  time,  if  it  can  give  peace  to  a  parent's 
mind,  it  is  quite  right,  it  is  very  beautiful,  it  is  very  proper 
that  the  babe  who  has  been  accepted  of  God  should,  by 
God's  own  ordinance,  be  signed  and  sealed  upon  earth  by 
the  rite  of  baptism. 

We  read  next,  that  "  a  certain  ruler  asked  him,  saying. 
Good  Master,  what  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life?" 
Jesus  said,  "  There  is  none  good  but  God."  That  does  not 
mean  that  Jesus  repudiated  being  God ;  but  the  very  re- 
verse. This  ruler  had  evidently  a  wrong  impression  of 
good ;  he  did  not  understand  what  it  was.  He  said,  "  All 
these  "  —  the  commandments  —  "  have  I  kept  from  my  youth 
up."  Then  Christ  said.  If  I  be  God,  why  do  you  not  recog- 
nize me  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Lord  of  glory  ?  When 
he  had  said  that  he  had  kept  all,  Jesus  said.  Then  I  will  put 
you  to  the  test ;  if  I  be  God  —  if  I  have  the  authority  that 
you  recognize,  then  this  is  my  commandment  — "  Sell  all 
that  thou  hast,  and  distribute  unto  the  poor,  and  thou  shalt 


368  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

have  treasure  in  heaven :  and  come,  follow  me."  That  tested 
his  adhesion.  The  meaning  of  obedience  to  a  law  is  not  so 
much  obedience  to  certain  rescripts,  but  recognition  of  a  sov- 
ereign and  royal  authority.  We  obey  the  law  not  because 
it  is  right,  but  because  it  is  God's  authority  expressed  in 
words.  So  Jesus  said  to  this  young  man,  "  Follow  me," — 
because  I  am  the  Lawgiver.  You  say  you  have  kept  all  the 
law  from  your  youth  up.  Then  take  the  law  in  what  it 
should  be  —  recognition  of  the  LaAvgiver.  Here  is  my  law 
—  "  Follow  me."  And  he  would  not  do  it ;  for  the  obvious 
reason,  that  he  was  very  rich. 

Then  Jesus  said,  "It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through 
a  needle's  eye,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  God.  And  they  that  heard  it  said,  Who  then  can 
be  saved  ?  "  Jesus  answered,  It  is  quite  possible  ;  for  "  the 
things  which  are  impossible  with  men  are  possible  with 
God."  But  you  say,  Is  wealth  a  sin  ?  Not  at  all ;  it  is  no 
more  sin  to  be  rich  than  to  be  poor.  The  sin  lies  in  the 
tenacity  with  which  you  hold  it,  and  the  amount  of  space 
that  w^hat  you  have  occupies  in  your  mind. 

Hence  a  man  with  a  hundred  pounds  in  a  savings  bank 
may  be  in  the  moral  sense  of  the  word  a  richel'  man  than 
he  who  has  ten  thousand  pounds  in  the  funds  or  in  the  Bank 
of  England.  It  is  not  the  amount  that  makes  the  wealth, 
but  the  amount  of  influence  that  the  wealth  which  you  have 
exercises  upon  you. 

Peter  then  said,  boasting  —  human  nature,  ever  prone 
thus  to  break  out  —  "  Lo,  we  have  left  all,  and  followed 
thee."  Jesus  said,  Well,  if  it  be  so,  "  there  is  no  man  that 
hath  left  house,  or  parents,  or  brethren,  or  wife,  or  children, 
for  the  kingdom  of  God's  sake,  who  shall  not  receive  mani- 
fold more  in  this  present  time,  and  in  the  world  to  come  life 
everlastinjir." 


CHAPTER    XVIII.    35-43. 

THE  BLIND  BEGGAR  HEARS  OF  CHRISt's  APPROACH  —  HIS  APPEAL  — 
CHRIST  HEARS — QUESTIONS  THE  BLIND  MAN — THE  CURE,  AND 
ITS  TEACHINGS  — SPIRITUAL  DARKNESS. 

A  VERY  beautiful  incident  closes  this  chapter.  "And  it 
came  to  pass,  that  as  he  was  come  nigh  unto  Jericho,  a  cer- 
tain blind  man  sat  by  the  way-side  begging :  and  hearing 
the  multitude  pass  by,  he  asked  what  it  meant.  And  they 
told  him,  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  passeth  by.  And  he  cried, 
saying,  Jesus,  thou  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me.  And 
they  which  went  before  rebuked  him,  that  he  should  hold  his 
peace :  but  he  cried  so  much  the  more.  Thou  Son  of  David, 
have  mercy  on  me.  And  Jesus  stood,  and  commanded  him 
to  be  brought  unto  him :  and  when  he  was  come  near,  he 
asked  him,  saying.  What  wilt  thou  that  I  shall  do  unto  thee? 
And  he  said.  Lord,  that  I  may  receive  my  sight.  And 
Jesus  said  unto  him.  Receive  thy  sight:  thy  faith  hath 
saved  thee.  And  immediately  he  received  his  sight,  and 
followed  him,  glorifying  God :  and  all  the  people,  when  they 
saw  it,  gave  praise  unto  God." 

The  man  that  sat  by  the  way-side,  called  by  another 
evangelist  Bartiimeus,  was  plainly  blind.  Jesus,  when  he 
saw  him,  or  rather  when  his  attention  Avas  called  to  him, 
explained  nothing  about  the  origin  of  his  blindness,  alluded 
not  even  in  Avord  to  the  cause  of  that  blindness  —  whether 
it  had  been  moral  or  otherwise  —  but  regarding  his  blind- 

(369) 


370  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

ness  as  his  misfortune,  lie  addressed  himself,  immediately 
he  was  asked,  to  his  cure.  The  blindness  of  this  poor  man 
was  aggravated  by  liis  poverty :  he  sat,  it  is  said,  by  the 
way-side,  begging.  However  sanctified  to  a  Christian,  one 
afiliction  is  often  the  parent  of  another.  It  is  a  proverb 
almost,  "  Trouble  never  comes  single."  He  was  not  only 
blind,  but  poor.  His  blindness  necessitated  his  begging. 
There  was  no  sin  in  his  blindness ;  there  was  no  shame  in 
his  beo;ii;ine:.  The  one  was  the  visitation  of  God ;  the  other 
w^as  his  misfortune :  both  to  be  pitied,  and  for  neither  was 
the  poor  man  to  be  blamed. 

That  morning  he  took  his  accustomed  seat  by  the  way- 
side, where  he  had  sat  probably  many  a  year,  not  expecting 
any  extraordinary  blessing,  —  not  certain  that  he  should 
obtain  the  ordinary  alms.  He  had  often  asked  aid  of  the 
crowd  —  he  had  often  begged  them  to  relieve  his  personal 
necessities ;  he  never  thought  of  asking  the  most  illustrious 
Pharisee  or  the  most  gifted  Rabbis  of  Israel  to  open  his 
blind  eyes,  and  pour  upon  the  eyeballs  even  present,  still  less 
celestial  light.  But  this  day  he  hears  the  tread  of  many 
feet,  —  shouts  upon  the  streets  as  of  a  mighty  cro-vvd ;  some 
speaking  in  praise,  others  probably  in  censure  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  who  assumed  to  be  what  the  blind  man  really 
believed  him  to  be,  —  the  Messiah,  the  Light  to  lighten  the 
Gentiles,  the  great  Prophet  that  should  come  into  the  world. 

The  ears  of  the  blind  are  often  most  acute.  It  is  one  of 
those  beautiful  incidental  traits  of  God's  beneficence  to  man, 
that  when  one  sense  is  destroyed,  another  sense  seems  to 
supply  the  defect  by  becoming  extraordinarily  acute  and 
sensitive.  Hence  you  will  find  that  blind  men  have  gener- 
ally an  exquisite  sense  of  hearing  ;  and  those  that  have  been 
both  deaf  and  blind  have  had  some  compensatory  gift  in  the 
exquisite  sensibility  of  their  touch.  This  blind  man  heard 
the  tramp  of  many  feet,  listened  to  tlie  voices  that  rose  from 
the  tumultuous  assembly ;  and  he  thought  that  there  might 


LUKE    XVIII.  371 

be  ill  liim,  whom  having  not  seen  he  loved,  and  in  whom, 
though  he  saw  him  not,  yet,  believing,  he  rejoiced  —  he 
thought  that  in  him  there  might  be  an  echo  to  his  appeal,  in 
his  heart  sympathy  with  his  misfortune  ;  and  he  determined, 
though  he  had  no  merit,  or  claim  upon  his  sympathy,  that  if 
he  lost  the  benefit  he  needed,  it  should  not  be  lost  for  want 
of  earnest  and  strenuous  asking ;  he  therefore  called  out  as 
he  heard  Jesus  pass  by,  "  Jesus,  thou  Son  of  David,  have 
mercy  on  me."  The  crowd,  we  read,  and  probably  the  dis- 
ciples themselve?,  protested  against  his  rude  and  boisterous 
appeal  to  their  beloved  Mabter.  Perhaps  they  thought  he 
was  too  contemptible  to  deserve  notice ;  or,  to  take  a  more 
charitable  view  of  their  conduct,  perhaps  they  thought  that 
Jesus  had  too  many  burdens  upon  his  spirit,  too  many  loads 
upon  his  shoulders,  to  have  added  to  these  any  others  ;  and 
therefore,  to  spare  the  Master  that  they  loved,  they  rebuked 
the  blind  man  as  he  cried,  and  insisted  that  he  should  hold 
his  peace.  But  he  felt  the  opportunity  was  too  precious ;  if 
lost  that  moment,  it  might  be  lost  for  ever ;  he  felt,  if  he  lost 
the  tide,  he  could  not  set  sail ;  if  he  lost  the  opportunity,  he 
could  have  no  means  of  restoration ;  and  therefore,  though 
he  had  lost  his  sight,  he  gave  good  evidence  that  he  had  not 
lost  his  tongue,  —  he  cried  the  more,  "  Jesus,  thou  Son  of 
David,  have  mercy  on  me." 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  the  Master  is  always  more 
sympathetic  than  the  disciple.  How  often  have  the  disciples 
repelled  the  want  that  the  blessed  Master  forthwith  supplied  ! 
How  true ,  is  it  that  man  feels  less  for  the  wrongs  and  sym- 
pathizes less  with  the  sufferings  of  man  than  God  does ! 
Jesus,  whose  ear  heard  that  loud  voice,  —  so  earnest,  so 
fervent,  —  was  arrested  by  it,  turned  round,  and  stood  still, 
it  is  said.  Prayer  once  arrested  the  sun  in  the  valley  of 
Ajalon  in  his  meridian  march  ;  and  this  blind  man's  petition, 
by  its  fervor,  arrested  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  who  stood 
still  in  Palestine,  with  healing  under  his  wings.     The  miracle 


372  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

that  Joshua  did  was  an  expression  of  mighty  power ;  the 
miracle  that  w^as  Avrought  in  answer  to  fervent  prayer  was 
greater  still ;  for  it  was  the  evidence  of  mighty  mercy,  yea, 
infinite  compassion.  Jesus  stood  still;  and  then,  without 
passing  a  censure  upon  the  disciples  that  rebuked  the  blind 
man,  he  told  those  very  disciples  to  bring  the  blind  man 
to  him.  How  gently  does  Christ  rebuke  —  without  harsh 
words  he  conveys  the  most  penetrating,  and  gives  in  gentle 
words  the  most  salutary  rebuke.  He  bids  the  very  men 
that  rebuked  the  blind  man  for  his  importunity  bring  that 
blind  man  to  him !  His  making  the  objectors  to  the  cure 
the  very  instruments  of  accomplishing  it,  was  at  once  the 
evidence  of  the  presence  of  the  wisdom  of  God,  by  convey- 
ing a  rebuke  that  was  sanctified  to  those  who  had  tried  to 
interpose  their  shadow,  their  influence,  and  their  persons 
between  the  victim  of  deep  misery  and  the  Giver  of  all  good 
things. 

Jesus,  when  he  was  brought  to  him,  asks  him,  "  What  wilt 
thou  that  I  shall  do  unto  thee  ?  "  Jesus  did  not  need  to  know 
for  we  are  told  in  another  Gospel  that  he  needed  not  to  be 
told  what  was  in  man  ;  he  knew  what  that  blind  man  wanted 
just  as  well  as  the  blind  man  knew  himselfl  Then  why 
should  he  ask  the  question  ?  Just  to  let  him  hear  the  blind 
man  express  his  want  in  his  own  language.  "  Behold  !  he 
l^rays,"  is  a  spectacle  the  brightest  that  flashes  from  earth  to 
heaven.  He  knows  what  you  and  I  want  far  better  than  we 
know  ourselves ;  and  yet  he  bids  us  tell  him  what  we  want. 
He  will  give  to  prayer  w^hat  he  will  not  give  without  prayer  ; 
and  though  he  knows  our  necessities  before  we  ask,  and  our 
ignorance  in  asking,  yet  it  is  a  law  just  as  fixed  as  rising  and 
setting  suns,  as  spring  and  summer,  and  seed-time  and  winter, 
that  you  must  ask  in  order  to  obtain,  that  you  must  seek  in 
order  to  find,  that  you  must  knock  in  order  that  it  may  be 
opened.  The  very  asking  humbles,  not  degrades  the  peti- 
tioner, and  exalts  him  to  w^hom  the  petition  is  addressed. 


LUKE    XYIII.  373 

The  blind  man  immediately  asked  him  to  supply  that 
which  he  felt  to  be  his  greatest  calamity.  And  here  we 
have  an  instance  of  temporal  blessings  sought,  and  temporal 
blessings  instantly  bestowed.  The  fact  is,  prayer  means,  not 
first  trying  to  find  out  what  is  best  for  us,  or  most  conducive 
to  the  glory  of  God ;  but  prayer  means  seeking  the  removal 
of  the  load  that  is  heaviest,  su^Dply  for  the  want  that  is 
deepest,  begging  mercy  where  mercy  can  be  best  and  most 
eflfectually  applied.  It  was  proper  for  him,  therefore,  and  it 
is  dutiful  and  right  for  all  to  go  to  the  Lord  and  tell  him  the 
want  that  you  feel  the  most,  whatever  that  want  may  be,  and 
ask  God  to  supply  it ;  and  he  has  promised  that  he  will  do 
so.  It  is  his  prerogative  to  give  when,  where,  and  how  he 
pleases ;  it  is  your  privilege  to  unbosom  your  OAvn  deep 
wants,  and  tell  him  all  you  feel,  and  ask  him  to  supply  all 
you  need. 

The  blind  man,  therefore,  with  the  instinctive  sagacity  of 
human  nature,  called  out,  "  My  want  —  the  one  I  feel  most 

—  the  one  that  makes  me  beg,  that  unfits  me  for  all  that  I 
would  do  —  is,  that  I  am  blind.  My  prayer  is  therefore, 
Lord,  that  I  may  receive  my  sight."  The  petition  was  no 
sooner  addressed  than  Jesus  answered,  "  Receive  thy  sight," 

—  not  thine  earnestness  hath  saved  thee,  not  thy  love  hath 
saved  thee,  not  thy  persistence  hath  saved  thee ;  but  that 
faith  which  recognized  in  the  Man  of  sorrow  the  Messiah 
of  Israel  —  "  thy  faith  hath  saved  thee." 

The  blind  man  instantly  arose,  Ave  are  told,  and  "  followed 
Jesus,  glorifying  God."  The  sense  of  gratitude  he  felt  for 
the  transcendent  mercy  he  had  received,  bound  him  to  the 
Giver  with  cords  that  could  not  be  broken.  He  rose  and 
followed  Jesus,  conscious  of  a  perfect  cure  ;  and  giving  glory, 
not  to  some  lucky  incident,  not  to  some  medicine,  but  to 
Jesus,  who  had  said,  "  Receive  thy  sight,"  and  instantly  his 
eyes  were  opened. 

Now  mark  the  nature  of  this  miracle  that  we  have  read. 
32 


374  scRirTUKE  readings. 

First,  the  miracle  Ix.-ars  upon  it  all  tlic  impress  of  a  Divine 
cijaracter.  The  object  on  ^YlJom  it  was  performed  was  not 
some  recluse,  some  fanatic  nun,  or  macerated  and  miserable 
monk,  in  a  convent,  whom  only  a  few  could  see ;  but  it  was 
a  way-side  beggar.  Everybody  knew  him  to  be  a  blind  man 
lor  years  ;  every  tradesman  going  to  his  shop,  every  merchant 
to  his  counting-house,  every  rabbi  to  his  synagogue,  every 
priest  to  his  temple,  had  seen  the  blind  man,  knew  that  he 
was  blind.  There  was  the  most  extensive  proof  of  his  mis- 
fortune ;  and  every  man  could  now  see  that  this  public  and 
well-known  character  had  recovered  the  use  of  his  sight,  and 
been  delivered  from  darkness  to  light. 

There  could  have  been  no  collusion.  I  am  only  showing 
how  impossible  it  is  to  account  for  this  except  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  a  divine  act.  There  could  have  been  no  collusion 
—  Jesus  did  not  know  the  blind  man ;  he  had  never  ob- 
served him  before.  Jesus  was  passing  by  on  his  errands  of 
mercy  and  beneficence,  wdien  a  loud  voice  arrested  his  at- 
tention, and,  as  the  world  would  say,  accidentally,  but  it  was 
really  not  an  accident,  he  heard  the  blind  man's  voice  amid 
the  tumult  of  the  crowd.  And  thus  it  is  clear  that  there 
could  have  been  no  preconcerted  arrangement,  no  plan  by 
wdiich  he  could  pretend  the  miracle  was  done  when  no  such 
thing  had  been  performed. 

And,  in  the  next  place,  the  miracle  was  done  in  the  midst, 
not  of  friends,  ready  to  believe  very  little  to  be  very  splendid ; 
but  in  the  midst  of  his  foes  —  some  that  scoffed  at  it,  others 
that  derided  him,  others  that  regarded  him  as  an  impostor. 
This  miracle  was  done  in  the  view  of  all ;  his  friends  and 
his  foes  equally  attested  the  exercise  of  his  power,  and  the 
accomplishment  of  the  great  result  for  which  that  power  was 
put  forth. 

You  will  notice,  in  the  next  place,  another  very  striking 
proof  of  its  divine  origin  is  that,  as  in  all  the  miracles  of 
Jesus,  we  know  not  which  most  to  admire  —  the  great  power, 


LUKE   XVIII.  375 

or  the  great  beneficence.  If  Satan  were  permitted  to  do  a 
supernatural  tiling  upon  the  earth,  there  would  be  one 
brand  on  it  unmistakable  —  it  would  not  be  beneficent ;  it 
would  be  no  contribution  to  the  moral,  the  physical,  the 
present  or  the  everlasting  well-being  of  man.  Out  of  a  bad 
fountain  good  waters  cannot  flow ;  on  a  bad  tree  good  fruit 
cannot  grow ;  Satan's  kingdom  never  will  be  divided  against 
itself  It  is,  therefore,  one  of  the  tests  of  a  miracle  that 
comes  from  above,  that  the  great  power  of  omnipotence  em- 
bosoms in  it  the  benevolence  and  beneficence  of  infinite  love. 
You  will  see,  therefore,  that  all  the  miracles  of  Jesus,  while 
the  evidence  of  omnipotent  power  in  the  hand  that  wrought 
them,  were  also  proofs  of  inexhaustible  beneficence  in  the 
heart  that  originated  them. 

And,  in  the  last  place,  jou  will  notice  in  this  miracle, 
what  is  also  in  all  the  miracles  of  Jesus  —  its  redemptive 
character.  Every  miracle  of  Jesus  was  putting  nature  back 
again,  or,  if  you  like,  forward,  to  its  true  and  original  con- 
dition. All  his  miracles  were  the  removal  of  blindness,  or 
deliverance  from  leprosy  or  demoniac  possession  or  death, 
or  unstopping  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  or  turning  water  into 
wine,  or  hushing  the  raging  waves  ;  every  miracle  that  he  did 
was  corrective  of  the  wrongs  that  sin  had  superinduced,  and 
in  its  place  a  foretaste  of  that  restoration  of  all  things  to 
their  primal  glory,  beauty,  and  perfection,  when  a  second 
Paradise  shall  close  the  world,  nobler  and  grander  than  that 
with  which  it  opened.  Hence  all  the  miracles  of  Christ 
were  essentially  restorative  of  man  to  his  former  condition, 
or  rather  to  that  new  condition  in  which  he  will  be  when  this 
mortal  shall  put  on  immortality,  and  death  shall  be  swallowed 
up  in  victory.  All  these  tiien  are  the  signs  and  the  charac- 
teristics of  miracles  from  God.  If  Satan  shall  be  permitted, 
as  I  think  he  will  before  this  dispensation  closes,  to  do  super, 
or  rather  ?7?/r«-natural  deeds  upon  the  earth,  they  will  not 
be  fabulous  or  absurd  —  something  like  the  pretensions  of 


376  SCRIPTUUE    READINGS. 

spirit  rapping  and  table  turning,  than  which  I  cannot  con- 
ceive any  greater  nonsense  upon  earth  —  but  they  will  have 
such  evidences  of  the  malignancy  of  the  demon,  that  there 
will  be  no  mistake  as  to  their  origin.  But  a  miracle  must 
be  so  plain  that  there  can  be  no  mistake  about  it,  or  it  is  no 
miracle  at  all ;  unless  it  is  demonstrably  a  miracle,  it  is  a 
natural  phenomenon.  The  miracles  that  Jesus  did  were 
difficulties  to  those  that  beheld  them  in  one  respect.  They 
said.  They  are  either  from  God  or  they  are  from  the  devil ; 
but  it  is  quite  evident  that  they  are  not  from  man.  But 
many  of  the  modern  miracles  are  so  childish,  so  absurd, 
that  the  difficulty  is,  not  whether  they  be  from  God  or  from 
the  devil,  but  whether  they  be  miracles  at  all.  And,  there- 
fore, I  have  wondered  that  people  should  perplex  their  heads 
so  much  about  tables  —  that  clergymen  should  be  guilty  of . 
such  absurdities  as  I  have  read  in  pamphlets,  trying  to  make 
that  a  miracle  which  is  simply  curious  —  for  I  have  no  doubt 
that  what  many  think  to  be  a  miracle  is  merely  the  result 
of  natural  causes ;  we  may  be  on  the  eve  of  a  scientific  dis- 
covery, something  like  electricity ;  but  I  do  protest  that  all  I 
have  seen  relative  to  this  subject  only  makes  me  amazed  at 
that  thirst  for  miracles  which  makes  men  call  that  a  miracle 
which  seems  to  me  to  be  excelled  by  the  feats  of  jugglers 
done  to  amuse  children  in  a  public  assembly. 

But  the  miracles  in  the  Bible  are  so  palpable,  so  irresisti- 
bly splendid,  that  you  cannot  deny  that  they  are  miracles. 
You  may  say  they  are  from  Satan  or  from  God ;  but  you 
cannot  deny  that  they  are  miracles,  for  to  assert  this  is  to 
deny  the  plain  testimony  of  your  senses. 

Now,  having  seen  the  miracle  performed  upon  the  blind 
man,  let  me  notice,  first,  we  are  the  victims  of  a  blindness 
worse  than  his.  His  was  physical,  and  of  temporary  dura- 
tion ;  ours  is  moral,  and  unless  removed  will  last  for  ever. 
This  is  surely  not  an  empty  form  of  speech,  without  mean- 
ing — "  whose  eyes  the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded." 


LUKE   XVIII.  377 

And  again,  "  They  need  to  be  turned  from  darkness  unto 
light."  Our  horizon  M-as  lessened  physically  when  we  fell ; 
our  horizon  was  lessened  morally  also  when  we  fell.  Man 
in  Paradise  had  a  larger  horizon,  and  his  eye  could  take 
in  a  wdder  and  a  broader  scope ;  and  man's  moral  eye  before 
it  fell  could  see  beauty  where  it  can  now  see  none,  and  wis- 
dom where  it  now  sees  only  foohshness  ;  and  God  in  all, 
where  man  can  see  no  trace  of  his  presence  now.  The  first 
thing  that  we  need  is  that  the  eyes  of  our  understanding 
may  be  enlightened.  And,  secondly,  this  blind  man's  earnest 
cry  brought  him  relief  from  Him  who  is  able  to  give  it. 
Why  should  we  doubt,  with  all  the  promises  and  encourage- 
ments of  Scripture,  that  our  cry,  equally  earnest  and  persist- 
ent, addressed  to  the  same  mighty  Saviour,  will  also  end  in 
his  giving  what  he  has  to  give,  and  has  promised  to  give  — 
his  Holy  Spirit  to  lead  us  to  the  knowledge  and  the  enjoy- 
ment of  all  truth  ? 

When  we  have  our  blindness  removed,  the  eyes  of  our 
understanding  opened,  and  light  poured  into  the  chambers 
of  our  mind,  let  us,  like  this  blind  man,  rise  up  and  give  the 
glory  to  God,  and  follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever  he  goeth. 
Let  us  give  the  glory  to  the  great  Physician,  let  us  praise 
the  Sun  of  light  and  life. 

If  we  have  received  such  blessings,  let  us  do,  as  I  doubt 
not  the  blind  man  did,  though  there  is  no  record  of  it  here 
—  go  and  tell  others.  We  cannot  open  blind  minds,  but  we 
can  tell  them  by  whom  they  can  be  opened.  We  cannot 
change  the  heart,  but  we  can  tell  them  by  whom  it  can  be 
changed.  We  cannot  give  grace,  but  we  can  show  the  Foun- 
tain of  grace.  We  cannot  of  ourselves  bestow  the  righteous- 
ness, but  we  can  lead  others  to  ask  with  anxious  hearts, 
"  How  shall  I  be  just  before  God  ?  "  The  Saviour  is  nearer 
to  us  than  he  was  to  Bartimaaus ;  as  much  on  our  streets  as 
he  was  upon  the  streets  of  Jerusalem ;  as  accessible  to  the 
worst,  to  the  vilest,  to  the  most  wicked,  as  he  was  to  that 
32* 


378  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

blind  man.  We  may  tell  all  that  he  is  near  —  his  ear  ever 
open,  his  heart  ever  overflowing  with  sympathy,  and  his 
hand  never  weary  in  doing  good. 

Blind  Bartimfeus  at  the  gates 

Of  Jericho  in  darkness  Avaits  ; 

He  hears  the  crowd  —  he  hears  a  breath 

Say,  "  It  is  Christ  of  Nazareth," 

And  calls,  in  tones  of  agony, 

'hjoov,  i/^Tjaov  lie. 

The  thronging  multitudes  increase. 
Blind  Bartimieus,  hold  thy  peace  ! 
But  still  above  the  noisy  crowd 
The  beggar's  cry  is  shrill  and  loud. 
Until  they  say,  "  He  calleth  thee  —  " 
QupasL,  hyelpaL,  (jxIjvel  ae. 

Then  saith  the  Christ,  as  silent  stands 
The  crowd,  "  What  wilt  thou  at  my  hands  1 " 
And  he  replies,  "  Oh  !  give  me  light ; 
Eabbi,  restore  the  blind  man's  sight." 
And  Jesus  answers,  "T/rayf, 
'H  niarlg  gov  cicuKi  ce. 

Ye  that  have  eyes  and  cannot  see, 
In  darkness  and  in  misery. 
Recall  those  mighty  voices  three  — 
'lyaov,  e/J7]g6v  fj,e' 
Qupasi,  iydpaf  "Trcaye, 
'H  TTiaTig  GOV  oibuKi  ge. 


Note.  —  [9-14.1  This  parable  is  not  spoken  to  the  Pharisees,  (for 
the  Lord  would  not  in  their  presence  have  chosen  a  Pharisee  as  an  ex- 
ample,) nor  concerning  the  Pharisees,  (for  then  it  would  have  been  no 
parable,)  but  to  the  people  ;  and  some  among  them  (then  and  always) 
who  tnisted  in  themselves  that  they  Avere  righteous,  and  despised  other 
men.  This  parable  describes  an  everyday  occurrence  ;  the  parabolic 
character  is  given  by  the  concuiTcnce  and  grouping  of  the  two,  and  by 
the  fact  that  each  of  these  represents  psychologically  a  class  of  persons. 
[9.]  Tvpbg,  "  to,"  not  "  concerning :  "  it  was  concerning  them,  it  is  true  ; 


LUKE   XVIII.  379 

but  this  word  expresses  that  it  was  spoken  to  them.  The  usage  of 
Tzpbg  in  ver.  1  is  no  example  for  the  sense  "  concci-ning,"  for  it  is  not 
there  so  used  of  persons,  but  with  a  neuter  article  and  infinitive  ;  elne 
Trpof  avToijQ  Trap,  is  too  general  a  phrase  to  allow  of  any  other  interpre- 
tation than  the  ordinary  one  where  the  context  will  bear  it,  TTeiToid: 
hf  kavT.  not  "  were  persuaded  of  themselves,"  as  Cresswell  renders ; 
but  as  E.  Y.—Alford. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

ZACCHEUS*  ANXIETY  TO  SEE  CHRIST  —  PHARISEES'  INVECTIVE 
AGAINST  JESUS  —  HOSPITALITY  —  THE  CONFESSION  OF  ZAC- 
CHEUS  THE    PARABLE    OF    THE    NOBLEMAN    AND    HIS    SERVANTS 

—  RESPONSIBILITY  — JESUS       SEATED       ON       A       COLT  —  JESUS 
WEEPS  —  JERUSALEM  —  ITS   FALL  —  ITS   RELICS. 

It  occurred,  in  the  commencement  of  the  chapter  we  have 
read,  that  Jesus,  in  tlie  course  of  his  wanderings  and  errands 
of  mercy  and  beneficence,. passed  through  the  town  of  Jeri- 
cho ;  and  there  it  happened,  as  the  worki  would  say,  a  chief 
PubKcan  —  for  that  is  the  proper  rendering  —  or  a  distin- 
guished Publican,  one  celebrated  for  his  2)osition  —  named 
Zaccheus,  who  was  very  rich,  having  heard  of  the  fame  of 
Jesus,  wished  to  see  him.  He  sought  to  see  Jesus  in  order 
to  discern  what  sort  of  a  man  he  was,  rather  than  for  a  nobler 
end;  his  fame  having  preceded  him  to  Jericho.  But  be- 
cause he  was  a  very  diminutive  person,  of  very  little  stature, 
and  was  unable  to  see  in  consequence  of  the  vast  crowd  that 
had  gathered  round  the  Saviour,  —  some  thinking  of  the 
miracles  that  he  did,  others,  like  Zaccheus  himself,  full  of 
curiosity  to  see  one  who  had  made  so  deep  and  powerful  an 
impression  upon  the  pubhc  mind,  —  he  climbed  up  a  tree  in 
order  to  see  him.  The  whole  desire  of  Zaccheus  was  to 
gratify  his  curiosity ;  for  no  other  reason  he  was  anxious  to 
see  Jesus.  Better  come  on  any  ground  than  not  at  all.  We 
are  rejoiced  to  see  that  one  that  came  from  curiosity  went 
away  jn  possession  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.     Many  a  one 

(380) 


LUKE    XIX.  381 

comes  to  the  house  of  God  out  of  curiosity  who  goes  away 
from  it  impressed  with  the  things  that  belong  to  his  everlast- 
ing peace.  One  is  glad  if  persons  come  to  the  house  of 
prayer  and  listen  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  from  good 
motives ;  but  one  should  also  not  be  unthankful  if  others  come 
from  any  motives.  Some  that  come  to  scoff  may  go  away 
to  pray.  Some  that  come  to  gratify  a  mere  itching  curiosity 
may  go  away  not  only  impressed  themselves,  but,  like  the 
woman  of  Samaria,  to  bid  others,  "  Come  and  see  one  who 
told  me  all  things  —  is  not  this  the  Christ  that  should  come 
into  the  world  ?  " 

When  Jesus  came  to  the  place,  he  looked  up  and  saw  him. 
The  little  Zaccheus  could  not  see  Christ,  but  Christ  could 
see  him.  Jesus  sees  them  that  see  not  him  ;  looks  upon  us 
before  we  look  up  to  him ;  calls  us  first,  and  then  Ave  answer ; 
moves  towards  us,  and  responsively,  by  his  grace,  we  move 
towards  him.  He  then  said  unto  him,  "  Zaccheus,  make 
haste,  and  come  down  "  —  from  the  sycamore  or  the  fig-tree, 
up  which  he  had  climbed  in  order,  from  that  elevated  posi- 
tion, to  get  a  view  of  the  Lord  of  glory  —  "  come  down ;  for 
to-day  I  must  abide  at  thy  house."  How  startling  to  the 
Publican !  I,  the  Lord  of  glory,  but  the  despised  Nazarene 
among  mankind  —  I,  whom  you  have  come  to  see,  so  strong 
in  your  curiosity,  am  come  this  day  for  the  very  purpose  of, 
not  indeed  gratifying  your  curiosity,  but  consecrating  your 
household  ;  for  I  am  come  to  abide  at  thy  house.  How  often 
does  God  do  more  for  us  than  we  ask,  always  vastly  more 
than  we  expect,  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  we  can  ask 
or  think ! 

"  And  he  made  haste,  and  came  down,  and  received  him 
joyfully."  It  was  too  good  to  put  off.  He  did  not  say,  "  I 
dare  not  entertain  so  illustrious  a  visitor."  "  It  is  of  thy 
goodness  that  thou  hast  offered ;  it  is  my  duty  to  accept ; 
and  therefore  I  receive  tliee  joyfully." 

But  how  did  the  people  look  upon  this  ?     The  Publican 


SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

was  the  Roman  tax-gatherer.  Zaccheus,  however,  who  was 
a  chief  one,  was  a  Jew ;  the  majority  were  Gentiles  or  Ro- 
mans ;  and  Zaccheus,  being  a  Pubhcan,  was  hated  and  de- 
tested, and  held  in  very  great  disrepute  by  not  the  more 
excellent,  but  the  more  sanctimonious  Pharisees.  For  the 
Pharisees  were  worse  than  the  Publicans,  inasmuch  as  the 
Publicans  made  no  profession  of  religion  —  which,  of  course, 
is  bad  enough ;  but  the  Pharisees  made  a  profession  of  re- 
ligion in  order  to  conceal  the  crimes  they  perpetrated  —  the 
plunder  of  the  widow  and  the  orphan,  in  which  they  in- 
dulged, and  the  unjust  and  evil  habits  by  which  they  were 
almost  universally  branded.  When  they  saw  it,  they  v/ere 
shocked ;  in  fact  they  were  far  more  shocked  at  violating 
a  rubric  than  breaking  a  moral  law.  They  were  far  more 
pleased  —  at  least  they  professed  it  —  with  Jesus  for  ob- 
serving some  ceremonial  rite,  than  at  his  exercising  good- 
ness and  mercy.  And,  therefore,  they  exclaimed  in  indig- 
nation —  they  murmured  —  saying,  "  That  he  was  gone  to 
be  guest  with  a  man  that  is  a  sinner."  Jesus  did  eat  and 
drink  with  Publicans  and  sinners  ;  but  why  ?  He  did  not 
go  to  enjoy  their  hospitality  only,  but  to  enlighten  their 
minds  and  save  their  souls.  It  is  right  to  accept  hospitality 
from  any  when  that  hospitality  is  needed ;  it  is  wrong  to 
say  to  the  worst,  "  Stand  aside ;  I  am  holier  than  thou." 
But  it  is  our  duty,  wherever  we  go,  not  to  conceal  our  char- 
acter ;  not  to  shrink  from  responsibility ;  but  to  remember 
that  everywhere  and  at  all  times,  we  are  a  royal  priesthood, 
the  children  of  Abraham,  the  representatives  of  Christ,  by 
whose  conduct  the  world  will  judge  what  Christ  is,  and  what 
Christianity  means.  Let  us  therefore,  by  all  means,  accept 
the  hospitality  of  all ;  but  let  us  never  merge  in  the  least 
degree  our  Christian  character.  I  do  not  think  it  would  be 
right  if  Christians  were  to  retire  comi)loLe]y  from  the  world. 
Those  that  cannot  bear  its  triiil.-^  ought  to  retreat  from  it ; 
but  those  who  have  the  grace  to  remain  steadfast  and  strons: 


LUKE  XIX.  383 

ought,  to  the  utmost  of  their  ability,  to  meet  the  world,  but 
in  meeting  it  to  show  themselves  blessings  and  benefactors 
to  it. 

"  Zaccheus  stood  and  said  unto  the  Lord ;  Behold,  Lord, 
the  half  of  my  goods  I  give  to  the  poor ;  and  if  I  have 
taken  any  thing  from  any  man  by  false  accusation,  I  restore 
him  fourfold."  These  were  not  probably  the  first  words 
that  he  used  ;  the  Bible  does  not  give  the  whole  dialogue,  it 
gives  snatches  of  it,  the  more  pointed,  excellent,  and  sugges- 
tive. These  words  of  Zaccheus  would  seem  to  have  been  the 
result  of  an  impression  made  upon  his  heart  by  the  words  of 
Jesus  ;  and  nothing  could  be  more  decisive  evidence  of  the 
influence  of  God's  grace  than  this  renunciation  of  the  evil, 
and  resolution  to  do  what  was  good.  Suppose  that  Zaccheus 
had  five  hundred  pounds  ;  then  he  says,  "  The  half  I  give  to 
the  poor"  —  that  is,  two  hundred  and  fifty.  Suppose  he 
had  taken  fifty  pounds  in  the  course  of  his  extortions,  —  not 
at  all  unlikely,  for  the  Publicans  Avere  extortioners  and  un- 
just,—  from  some  man  by  false  accusation,  then  he  says,  "I 
restore  him  fourfold :  "  that  would  be  two  hundred.  Two 
hundred  and  fifty  that  he  gives  to  the  poor,  and  two  hundred 
he  restores  to  him  he  had  unjustly  treated,  would  make  in 
all  four  hundred  and  fifty  pounds :  he  had  thus  fifty  pounds 
left  for  himself.  In  other  Avords,  he  was  prepared  to  sacri- 
fice all  that  he  had  in  order  to  do  what  became  him  as  a 
witness  before  God,  and  as  just  towards  his  fellow  men. 
Wherever  there  is  the  grace  of  God,  there  will  be  an  in- 
stinctive desire  to  do  what  is  just.  If  you  owe  any  thing  to 
any  man,  you  are  to  do  the  utmost  to  pay  it ;  if  you  can  pay 
and  do  not,  it  is  criminal ;  if  you  cannot  pay  it  is  your  mis- 
fortune. In  the  first  case  it  is  guilt,  in  the  second  case  it  is 
reason  for  penitence,  for  regret  and  humility. 

"  Jesus  said  unto  him.  This  day  is  salvation  come  to  this 
house  "  —  that  is,  the  knowledge  of  it,  the  enjoyment  of  it, 
the  offer  of  it,  to  you  and  to  all  that  are  within  your  house. 


S84  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

And  then  he  says,  "  Forasmuch  as  he  also  is  a  son  of  Abra- 
ham," —  a  son  by  faith,  a  son  by  Hneal  descent,  being  a 
Jew,  —  "  For  the  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  lost." 

Then  he  sj^eaks  a  parable  to  them.  Certain  persons,  as 
he  came  near  to  Jerusalem,  thought  that  the  kingdom  of 
God  should  immediately  appear ;  that  is,  they  are  expected 
that  the  kingdom  of  God,  in  its  future  glory,  should  then 
and  at  that  time  appear  upon  the  earth.  The  expectation 
of  the  Jew  that  the  kingdom  of  God  should  be  in  glory  was 
a  right  one  ;  but  he  overlooked  the  prior  phasis  of  that 
kingdom  —  that  it  should  be  first  in  sorrow,  with  a  cross ; 
then  in  glory,  with  a  crown.  The  Jew  at  this  day  looks  for 
Christ's  glorious  kingdom,  but  he  cannot  accept  Christ  in 
his  humility.  The  true  Christian  accepts  Christ  on  the 
cross,  the  ground  of  his  faith  ;  and  prays  for  Christ  Avitli  the 
crown,  the  object  of  his  hope.  Now,  these  Pharisees  and 
Jews  very  justly  expected  that  the  kingdom  should  appear, 
but  they  expected,  from  chronological  error,  that  it  would 
appear  at  that  time.  Jesus,  therefore,  shows  them  that  there 
was  to  be  a  long  intervening  period,  during  which  duties 
were  to  be  done,  improvements  to  be  made,  responsibility  to 
be  felt ;  and  at  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man  in  glory  all 
should  be  finished  and  complete.  He  therefore  says,  "A 
certain  nobleman  went  into  a  far  country  "  —  that  is,  heaven, 
—  "  to  receive  for  himself  a  kingdom  "  —  that  is,  the  inher- 
itance of  this  world,  —  "  and  to  return."  Christ  is  to  come 
again  in  his  kingdom  and  glory.  Now  then,  "  he  called  his 
ten  servants  "  —  ten,  a  mere  arbitrary  number,  —  and  deliv- 
ered to  them  ten  sums  of  money,  called  in  our  version 
pounds  —  or  twelve  and  a  half  ounces  of  silver,  equal  to 
somewhere  about  three  or  four  pounds.  "And  he  said  unto 
them.  Occupy  "  —  make  the  best  use  of  this  —  "  till  I  come." 
There  is  not  an  individual  I  address  that  has  not  a  talent  of 
some  sort  committed  to  him ;  and  that  talent  not  to  be  used 


LUKE   XIX.  385 

for  his  own  aggrandizement  only,  but  for  the  glory  of  the 
Giver,  and  the  moral  and  the  spiritual  well-being  of  all  with 
whom  he  is  connected.  It  is  said  to  every  one,  "  Occupy 
till  I  come ; "  and  he  that  makes  not  use  of  the  gift  that  he 
has,  would  make  a  worse  use  if  possible  of  the  gifts  that  he 
desires.  God  will  not  give  great  gifts  to  those  that  make 
not  good  use  of  the  little  gifts  that  they  have.  We  are  ac- 
countable to  him,  not  for  what  we  have  not,  but  for  that 
which  we  have.  "  But  his  citizens  hated  him,  and  sent  a 
message  after  him,  saying,  We  will  not  have  this  man  to 
reign  over  us,"  —  we  will  not  obey  his  laws  ;  we  prefer  our 
own  prejudices,  passions,  appetites,  indulgences,  and  desires, 
and  we  will  not  obey  him. 

"  It  came  to  pass  that  when  he  was  returned,  having  re- 
ceived the  kingdom,  then  he  commanded  these  servants  to 
be  called  unto  him,  to  whom  he  had  given  the  money,  that 
he  might  know  how  much  every  man  had  gained  by  trading. 
Then  came  the  first,  saying.  Lord,  thy  pound  hath  gained 
ten  pounds,"  — that  is,  I  have  made  use  of  it,  I  have  turned 
it  to  account.  Not,  I  have  gained  ten  pounds  —  for  mark 
how  comjiletely  each  detaches  from  himself  the  idea  of  merit ; 
but,  "  T/iy  pound  hath  gained  ten  pounds."  If  it  has  in- 
creased, it  has  not  been  owing  to  my  industry,  though  it 
may  be  real,  but  owing  to  thy  gracious  blessing.  "  And  he 
said  unto  him.  Well,  thou  good  servant ;  because  thou  hast 
been  faithful  in  a  very  little,  have  thou  authority  over  ten 
cities.  And  the  second  came,  saying.  Lord,  tliy  pound  hath 
gained  five  pounds.  And  he  said  likewise  to  him,  Be  thou 
also  over  five  cities."  The  first  had  opportunities  that  the 
second  had  not ;  but  the  second  used  the  opportunities  he 
had,  just  as  diligently  as  the  first  used  the  opportunities  that 
he  had.  We  are  not  accountable  for  discharging  duties  that 
belong  to  a  loftier  sphere,  or  the  ten  pound  sphere  ;  but  we 
are  responsible  for  discharging  the  duties  that  belong  to  the 

33 


386.  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

sphere  in  Avhich  we  live,  whether  it  be  the  five  pound  or  the 
one  pound. 

"And  another  came,  saying,  Lord,  behold,  here  is  thy 
pound,  which  I  have  kept  laid  up  in  a  napkin  ;  for  I  feared 
thee,  because  thou  art  an  austere  man :  thou  takest  up  that 
thou  hiyedst  not  down,  and  reapest  that  thou  didst  not  sow  ; " 
and,  therefore,  I  present  it  to  thee  just  as  it  was,  neither  in- 
creased nor  diminished.  And  his  master  said  to  him,  "  Out 
of  thine  own  mouth  will  I  judge  thee,  thou  wicked  servant." 
If  you  knew  that  I  v/as  so  strict,  why  did  you  not  turn  that 
which  I  intrusted  to  you  to  the  best  account?  If  you  knew 
that  I  was  such  an  exactor,  why  did  you  not  put  it  into  the 
bank,  that  at  my  coming  I  might  have  required  mine  own 
with  usury  —  that  I  might  thus  get  the  proper  interest  for 
it,  and  have  it  restored  to  me  double,  or  treble,  or  perhaps 
tenfold  ?  He  had  no  answer  to  give ;  and  therefore  "  the 
Lord  said  unto  them  that  stood  by.  Take  from  him  the  pound," 
—  take  away  the  little  gift  that  I  gave  him,  and  leave  him 
naked,  desolate,  without  one  atom  of  merit  or  excellence  of 
any  sort;  take  from  him  all  with  which  I  originally  invested 
him  in  Eden  —  all  his  j^ristine  excellence,  and  glory,  and 
perfection  ;  increase  the  happiness  of  those  that  have  ap- 
preciated my  gifts  ;  consign  to  the  depths  of  misery,  and 
poverty,  and  woe,  those  that  have,  not  abused  them,  but 
have  misused  them,  or  left  them  without  the  profit  that 
they  were  fitted  to  produce.  The  whole  guilt  of  this  man 
was,  not  that  he  spent  the  pound  in  riotous  living  —  that 
would  have  been  bad,  —  it  was  not  that  he  had  used  this 
pt)und  for  -wicked  and  profane  purposes ;  but  it  was  that  he 
just  presented  it  as  it  was.  What  does  that  teach  us? 
That  a  man  who  is  a  blank  in  the  world  is  guilty  —  not  so 
much,  it  is  true,  but  still  guilty  —  as  he  that  is  a  bane  in  the 
world.  The  fact  is,  God  will  call  to  account  the  blanks  as 
well  as  the  banes ;  and  men  that  have  made  no  j^rogress  as 
well  as  those  that  have  made  a  retrograde  progress.     Let  us 

• 


LUKE    XIX.  387 

ask,  tlien,  "  What  are  we  doing  with  the  gifts  of  his  provi- 
dence, with  the  grace  of  his  Spirit  ?  Are  we  really  doino- 
any  thing  to  promote  his  cause,  to  unfold  his  glory,  to  help 
to  the  knowledge  of  salvation  those  that  are  perishing  for 
want  of  it  ?  Are  we  building  up  ourselves  on  his  name,  in- 
creasing the  means  of  our  instruction,  progress,  and  con- 
formity to  his  image  ?  Are  we  laying  out  a  tithe  upon  spir- 
itual things  of  what  we  lay  out  upon  the  lust  of  the  eye,  the 
pride  of  life,  and  the  love  of  this  present  world?"  Recol- 
lect, the  non-use  of  a  gift,  whatever  that  gift  be,  is  criminal, 
as  well  as  the  abuse  and  the  desecration  of  it. 

We  read  next,  that  "  when  he  was  come  nigh  to  Bethphage 
and  Bethany  "  —  the  town  of  Mary  and  her  sister  Martha 
—  "  at  the  mount  called  the  mount  of  Olives,"  he  called  two 
of  his  disciples,  and  told  them  to  go  and  find  a  colt  that  they 
should  see,  and  bring  it  to  him,  that  he  might  be  seated  on 
it,  and  ride  to  Jerusalem  in  majesty  and  triumph.  There 
is  an  ancient  prophecy,  "  Behold,  thy  IGng  cometh  unto  thee, 
lowly,  and  riding  upon  an  ass,  and  upon  a  colt,  the  foal  of 
an  ass."  This  was  literally  prophesied  —  it  was  literally 
fulfilled.  "  And  when  he  was  come  nigh,  even  now  at  the 
descent  of  the  mount  of  Olives,  the  whole  multitude  of  the 
disciples  began  to  rejoice  and  praise  God  with  a  loud  voice, 
for  all  the  mighty  works  that  they  had  seen,  saying,"  in  the 
language  of  Psalm  cxviii.,  "  Blessed  be  the  King  that 
cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  The  carping,  cavilhng, 
envious  Pharisees  began  to  murmur  because  the  multitude, 
in  a  burst  of  tumultuous  feeling,  gave  expression  to  the  emo- 
tions of  their  hearts ;  but  Jesus  rebuked  them,  •"  and  an- 
swered and  said  unto  them,  I  tell  you  that,  if  these  should 
hold  their  peace,  the  stones  would  immediately  cry  out." 
Nature  v.'ould  recognize  her  INIaker,  and  the  very  stones  of 
the  earth  become  eloquent,  if  rational  and  responsible  man- 
kind should  in  their  guilt  be  dumb. 

But  in  the  midst  of  all  this  majesty  he  wept.     "  When  he 


388  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

came  near,  he  beheld  the  city,  and  wept  over  it,  saying,  If 
thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  at  least  in  this  thy  day,  the 
things  which  belong  unto  thy  peace  ; "  literally,  "  the  vision 
of  peace."  If  thou,  Jerusalem  —  the  vision  of  peace  — 
hadst  only  known  the  gift  of  peace,  then  it  would  have  been 
well  with  thee.  But  thy  sun  is  set,  thine  hour  is  passed 
away  —  they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes  ;  and  the  days  are 
rapidly  approaching  when  Titus  and  Vespasian  will  sur- 
round thee,  with  their  ramparts,  and  level  thee  to  the  ground, 
and  leave  not  one  stone  upon  another."  How  literally  has 
this  prophecy  been  fulfilled !  Jesus  predicted  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem  forty  years  before  that  foil  took  place  ;  and  after 
the  forty  years  had  expired,  it  was  literally  ploughed  up 
with  the  ploughshare  —  literally  one  stone  was  not  left  upon 
another ;  and  when  a  subsequent  attempt  was  made  to  re- 
build it,  it  is  recorded  by  heathen  writers,  —  and  sceptics 
prefer  such  authority  generally  to  Christian  evidence,  — 
that  subterranean  fires  burst  forth  from  every  part  of  the 
foundations,  and  arrested  the  workmen  that  the  heathen  and 
apostate  Eoman  emperor  had  employed  to  raise  Jerusalem, 
in  order  to  frustrate  the  prediction  of  the  crucified  Nazarene, 
and  to  show  that  what  Christ  predicted  could  not,  and  should 
not,  and  would  not  come  to  pass.  But  what  is  the  fact? 
The  prediction  was  plain  —  it  sliall  be  trodden  underfoot 
till  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  come ;  and  the  modern  Jeru- 
salem is  now  no  more  like  the  ancient  Jerusalem  than  the 
city  in  which  we  now  dwell.  There  is  not  a  building  exist- 
ing in  Jerusalem  that  can  be  traced  back  seven  or  eight 
hundred  years ;  and  the  only  traces  of  its  ancient  magnifi- 
cence and  glory  are  a  few  huge  stones,  like  those  described 
by  our  Lord,  or  by  the  apostles,  when  they  called  his  atten- 
tion to  the  gigantic  stones  of  the  temple ;  a  few  covered 
with  names,  and  worn  one  of  them  with  tlie  kisses  of  pilgrim 
Rabbles  who  come  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  see  Jeru- 
salem :  this  the  remaining  stone,  supposed  to  be  the  foun- 


LUKE   XIX.  389 

dation  of  its  majestic  Temple,  and  thus  fulfilling  tlie  beautiful 
sentiment  of  the  Psalmist  — ''  Her  dust  is  dear ;  thy  saints 
take  pleasure  in  her  stones."  Her  dust  to  them  is  dear. 
And  it  will  so  remain ;  Jerusalem  will  so  remain  till  the 
Jews  return  —  a  majestic  exodus,  more  glorious  than  that 
from  Egypt  to  Canaan  —  rebuild  Jerusalem,  restore  the 
Temple  after  the  model  of  Ezekiel,  and  in  the  midst  of  its 
rc^storation  see  the  King  in  his  glory,  look  upon  Him  whom 
their  sins  pierced,  and  mourn  every  tribe  apart,  as  one 
mourneth  for  his  only  begotten.  I  believe  that  period  is 
just  at  hand.  The  events  of  history,  the  movements  of 
Europe,  the  tumults  of  the  nations,  the  excitement  of  cab- 
inets, the  agitation  of  rulers,  the  mustering  of  armies,  the 
drying  up  of  the  Euphrates,  the  interest  felt  in  Palestine, 
the  sympathy  expressed  and  felt  with  the  Jews,  —  all  tell  us 
that,  within  some  few  years,  we  shall  see  events  that  will 
startle  the  wide  world.  Who  knows  but  it  may  be  the  very 
close  of  the  dispensation  that  now  is  ? 

33* 


CHAPTER    XIX.  10. 

I 

THE  BLESSED  ERRAND — EVIL  CONSCIENCE  INTERPRETS  EVILLY  — 
PRE-EXISTENCE  OF  JESUS  —  OBJECT  OF  HIS  MISSION  —  PECULIAR- 
ITY OP  HIS  OBJECT  —  ELECTION  —  MAN  LOST  AND  RUINED  — 
EVIDENCES  ENDLESS  SUFFERING. 

In  this  chapter  occurs  a  pregnant  inference :  "  For  the 
Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost." 

The  errand  on  whicli  the  Saviour  came  into  our  workl  is 
almost  the  reverse  of  what  we  might  have  anticipated  from 
a  celestial  visitant,  if  we  went  by  what  our  own  consciences 
suggested,  or  our  fears  would  have  predicted.  Conscience 
is  often  the  prophecy,  it  is  always  the  interpreter  of  events. 
The  tidings  of  a  visitor  from  heaven  heard  by  guilty  hu- 
manity ouglit  to  have  made,  and  no  doubt  it  did  make,  thou- 
sands anticipate  an  avenger  of  the  crimes  of  one  against 
another,  and  of  the  sins  of  all  against  God.  When  men 
heard  that  one  was  coming  from  heaven  to  visit  earth,  all 
must  have  felt  in  some  such  way  as  the  disciples  in  the  storm 
did.  Christ  walked  upon  the  waves  to  save  them ;  but 
their  guilty  consciences  interpreted  his  act  into  coming  to 
overwhelm  and  to  destroy  them.  But  it  says  here  —  "  The 
Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  "  —  the  opposite  of 
what  might  have  been  expected.  He  is  not  come  to  con- 
demn the  world,  but  that  the  world  through  him  may  be 
saved.  He  came  into  our  world,  not  like  the  lightning,  to 
scathe  it ;  but  like  the  gentle  and  expanding  light  of  morn, 
to  make  it  burst  into  green  verdure,  into  beautiful  blossom 

(390)  . 


LUKE   XIX.  391 

and  fragrance.  He  came  into  our  world,  we  are  told,  not 
the  avenger  of  the  Holy  One,  but  our  Advocate  with  the 
Father ;  not  to  hold  an  assize  upon  the  guilty,  to  condemn 
them,  but  to  open  a  heahng  spring  of  mercy,  to  which  the 
worst  were  welcome,  in  which  the  vilest  might  be  healed, 
and  the  guiltiest  forgiven ;  for  the  Son  of  man  is  come  into 
the  world  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost,  bringing  with  him  a 
cross  on  which  to  die  for  our  sms,  not  a  sword  wherewith  to 
smite  us. 

We  have  here,  first  of  all,  clearly  stated  the  preexistence 
of  the  Son  of  God.  To  other  texts  we  have  recourse  for 
proofs  of  his  Deity ;  to  this  only  we  may  have  recourse  for 
irresistible  evidence  of  his  preexistence.  "  He  is  come  into 
the  world."  This  cannot  be  said  except  of  one  who  existed 
before  the  world.  He  is  come  into  the  world  to  seek  and  to 
save  that  which  was  lost.  He  is  not  come  from  one  country 
to  another ;  but  from  the  presence  of  God  into  the  presence 
of  man.  God  sent  him,  God  gave  him  —  the  Son  of  man  is 
come.  Now  let  the  Socinian  explain  as  he  may  —  he  must 
admit,  if  such  phraseology  have  any  meaning  at  all,  that 
Christ  existed  before  he  was  born ;  and  if  he  admit  this,  it 
remains  with  him  to  show  what  he  was  before  he  was  born. 
The  lowest  section  of  that  creed  —  or  the  strict  Unitarians  — 
hold  that  Christ  was  a  mere  human  being,  the  same  as  we 
arc  ;  but  the  higher  class,  headed  by  Dr.  Channing,  seem  to 
hold  that  he  was  preexistent,  or  a  glorious  spirit  beside  the 
throne  becoming  incarnate.  But  I  submit  that  the  far  more 
rational  estimate  —  not  only  more  rational,  but  clearly  Scrip- 
tural —  is  that  he  was  not  an  angel  incarnate  in  the  flesh ; 
for  an  angel  had  done  nothing  to  deserve  such  punishment ; 
and  he  could  not  make  an  expiation  for  us,  who  had  no  more 
"  oil "  or  grace  than  he  needed  for  himself  The  more  ra- 
tional, because  the  scriptural  solution,  is,  that  he  was  not  an 
angel,  but  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  by  whom  the  worlds  were 
made,  and  without  whom  nothing  was  made  that  was  made. 


392  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Observe,  next,  wliat  was  the  object  of  his  mission.  Christ, 
preexisting  before  the  world  was,  is  come  into  the  world,  we 
are  told,  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  is  lost.  Notice  the 
vast  difference  between  Christ's  aim  as  the  Saviour  of  man- 
kind, and  the  aim  of  most  reformers  when  thej  undertake 
crusades  for  reforming  the  human  race.  The  Saviour  came, 
not  to  improve,  as  they  propose ;  nor  simply  to  ameliorate, 
as  they  conceive  ;  but  to  regenerate,  to  renovate,  to  sanctify. 
The  reformers  of  this  world  will  bid  the  Pagan  lay  aside  his 
ugly  gods,  and  take  more  beautiful  ones ;  and  the  drunkard 
lay  aside  his  drunkenness,  and  become  sober ;  and  the  thief 
his  habits,  and  become  honest;  and  so  far  they  do  well. 
Nobody  doubts  that  such  changes  are  boons  to  society.  A 
drunkard  made  sober,  a  thief  become  honest,  are  unques- 
tionably contributions  to  the  happiness  and  well-being  of 
society ;  and  whenever  persons  profess  the  one  or  the  other, 
it  ought  not  to  be  caricatured,  but  to  be  hailed,  and  we  our- 
selves thankful  for  it.  But  when  Christ  came,  it  was  not  to 
improve  externally,  or  to  beautify  humanity  in  its  outward 
developments ;  but  to  change  the  heart,  and  thus  to  amelio- 
rate the  condition  ;  to  cast  into  the  spring  the  element  of 
healing ;  and  thus  to  make  pure  its  minutest  currents ;  to 
make  the  tree  good  at  its  core,  and  thus  to  guarantee  that  its 
blossoms  should  be  fragrant,  and  its  fruit  should  be  good. 
Man  stops  with  his  reforming  at  the  circumference,  and  tries 
to  work  inwards ;  Christ  begins  with  his  revolution  at  the 
centre,  and  works  outwards.  Man's  plan  is  to  give  to  man 
something  that  man  has  not ;  Christ's  plan  is  to  make  man 
something  that  man  is  not.  The  first  changes  the  bed,  the 
other  heals  the  patient.  The  first  removes  to  a  better 
climate,  the  latter  gives  man  the  life  that  enables  him  to  live 
in  any  climate  upon  earth.  Christ  is  come  to  seek  and  to 
save  that  which  is  lost. 

How  beautiful,  too,  and  how  suggestive  is  the  expression, 
he  is  come  to  do  it!     Not  fetched  to  do  it,  as  if  he  himself 


LUKE   XIX.  393 

never  thought  about  it ;  not  forced  to  do  it,  as  if  he  had  been 
reluctant ;  but  he  is  come  —  the  language  of  spontaneous  and 
cheei'ful  sacrifice.  He  is  come  from  a  height  of  glory  to 
which  human  imagination  never  rose,  to  a  depth  of  woe, 
misery,  degradation,  exhaustion  of  himself,  which  human 
imagination  cannot  conceive.  He  made  the  first  movement 
towards  us,  or  we  had  never  made  any  movement  towards 
him.  It  is  folly,  it  is  childish,  to  quibble  and  quarrel  about 
election.  If  election  means  that  God  chose  us  before  we 
chose  him,  then  it  is  one  of  the  plainest  truths  of  the  Bible. 
Christ  came  to  us  first,  for  we  made  no  attempt  to  go  to  him  ; 
God  chooses  us  first,  before  we  ever  think  of  choosing  him. 
God  loves  us  first,  before  we  ever  think  of  loving  him. 
Grant  me  grace  —  the  doctrine  of  grace,  or  God's  gracious 
dispensation  in  calling  us  before  we  go  to  him,  —  and  I  have 
no  quarrel  about  the  word  election.  The  fact  is,  election  in 
the  way  we  explain  it  is  almost  absurd.  TVe  call  it  election 
before  the  world  began.  But  with  God  there  is  no  past, 
there  is  no  present,  there  is  no  future.  It  is  merely  clothing 
a  grand  and  magnificent  thought  in  the  imperfect  drapery 
of  human  speech,  and  trying  to  make  intelligible  to  man  that 
which  is  the  sovereign  act  of  God. 

We  have  next  described  in  this  verse  the  condition  of 
man.  He  is  come,  first,  to^eek  the  lost ;  and  secondly,  to 
save  the  ruined.  The  first  description  of  us  is  that  ^\Q.  are 
lost.  Our  blessed  Lord  has  given  the  imagery  which  ex- 
hausts the  idea  of  loss.  They  arc  -likened  to  lost  sheep. 
The  sheep  has  wandered  from  the  fold ;  it  has  gone  into  the 
distant,  bleak,  inhospitable  desert ;  it  is  exposed  to  the  raven- 
ing wolf;  liable,  from  its  simplicity,  or  ignorance,  or  stupid- 
ity if  you  like,  to  fall  over  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  and  to 
be  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  rocks  bejow.  The  dog  finds  his 
way  back  again  to  the  kennel,  the  stranger  may  find  his  way 
again  to  his  home ;  but  the  sheep  that  has  wandered  from 
the  fold  wanders  further  and  further,  till  it  perishes  of 


394  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

hunger,  or  is  devoured  bj  the  wolf  —  it  never  finds  its  way 
back  to  the  fold.  Such  is  lost  humanity  ;  such  am  I,  such 
are  you,  by  nature  ! 

Or,  it  is  like  the  lost  coin,  and  is  buried  amid  the  dust ;  it 
is  hidden  by  other  rubbish ;  it  is  covered  by  the  things  of 
this  world.  Jesus  lights  the  lamp,  searches  for  it,  finds  it, 
restamps  the  impress  and  the  image  of  its  Maker,  and  re- 
stores it  again  to  the  currency  of  heaven.  Or,  we  are  like 
the  lost  prodigal ;  he  has  lost  his  home,  he  has  taken  with 
him  all  his  share  of  his  father's  goods;  he  is  gone  into  the 
far  distant  orphan  land,  —  a  land  that  has  broken  loose  from 
its  attraction  to  God,  and  its  connection  with  the  great  con- 
tinent of  heaven.  He  spends  in  that  distant  land  all  that  he 
received  from  his  father ;  wastes  it,  not  on  his  own  comfort, 
but  in  riotous  living  ;  he  begins  to  be  in  want.  He  is  hungry, 
he  feeds  on  husks ;  he  concludes  that  man  was  made  to  live 
upon  husks,  and  that  he  need  not  expect  any  better  food. 
But  these  are  insufficient ;  he  asks  his  master  to  give  him, 
and  his  master  will  not.  But  ancient  reminiscences  awake 
in  his  bosom  ;  the  dim  shadows  of  his  home  fiit  before  his 
eyes  ;  he  comes  to  the  resolution,  and,  inspired  by  grace,  and 
directed  by  the  wisdom  that  inspired  it,  he  resolves,  —  "I 
will  arise,  and  go  to  my  father."  He  goes,  weeping,  way- 
Avorn,  ragged,  destitute,  miserable  ;  and  would  perish  mid- 
way were  it  not  that  the  father,  seeing  him  afar  off,  rushes 
forth  to  meet  him,  falls  upon  his  neck  and  kisses  him,  and 
bids  him  welcome  home. 

These  are  the  three  types  under  which  your  condition, 
however  civilized,  your  souls,  however  intellectual  and  en- 
lightened, are  by  nature  — they  are  lost.  There  are  various 
degrees  of  loss,  various  distances  from  God.  Some  are 
plunged  in  the  jungles  of  heathenism ;  others  are  weltering 
in  the  lurid  light  of  the  Maliometan  crescent;  others  again 
are  groaning  under  the  dark  and  overwhelming  despotism 
of  the  Papacy ;  others  are  burjing  themselves  under  mere 


LUKE    XIX.  395 

nominal  religion  ;  but  all  wilhout  exception,  by  nature,  what- 
ever be  their  gift,  whatever  their  intellectual  enlightenment, 
are  morally  and  spiritually,  and  in  reference  to  their  ultimate 
condition  before  God,  lost  —  lost  irretrievably,  hopelessly 
lost,  as  far  as  any  movement  is  concerned  that  they  them- 
selves can  make,  or  any  interposition  that  man  can  originate. 
They  are  lost  to  earth  —  blanks  and  banes,  not  its  blessings  ; 
they  are  lost  to  God,  obstructions  to  his  cause,  shadows  on 
his  glory,  silent  when  they  should  be  eloquent,  and  speaking 
when  they  should  be  silent.  They  are  lost  to  heaven ;  there 
are  mansions  there  that  wait  for  them;  there  are  choirs 
there  that  seek  them ;  there  is  a  hospitality  there  that  Abra- 
ham, and  Isaac,  and  Jacob  partake  of,  and  to  Avhich  they 
would  welcome  them.  And  they  are  lost  to  themselves ; 
wrecks  floating  on  the  waters,  sources  of  misery  to  them- 
selves, no  real  or  beneficent  blessing  to  their  neighbors,  their 
country,  and  their  God.  The  language  —  "  lost "  —  is  most 
expressive  ;  it  is  the  description  of  our  state,  and  the  more 
closely  we  analyze  it,  the  more  thoroughly  we  shall  see  it  is 
the  just  portrait  of  ourselves  before  grace  has  retouched  and 
restored  it.  Let  us  ascertain  the  meaning  of  this  word  by 
comparison.  What  is  man's  original  duty  ?  "  Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  with  all  thy  soul, 
and  with  all  thy  strength."  Is  this  your  case  ?  Do  you 
love  God  at  all?  Do  you  think  of  him?  is  he  in  your 
thoughts?  lYas  he  in  your  thoughts  first  this  morning, 
latest  last  night?  "Was  God  in  your  thoughts  behind  the 
counter,  in  the  counting-house,  in  the  transactions  of  the 
world  ?  I  do  not  say  that  the  evidence  of  your  Christianity 
is,  that  you  speak  texts,  or  indorse  texts  upon  your  bills,  or 
preach  sermons  in  your  shops,  or  talk  theology  in  your 
counting-houses,  or  bid  the  world  "  Come,  see  a  Christian;" 
but  in  your  silence,  in  the  tone,  the  temper,  the  attitude,  the 
aspect,  the  inner  experience  of  your  hearts  —  that  which 
stamps  you  before  God,  is  it  suggested  to  mankind  that  there 


396  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

is  one  here  who  has  a  spring  of  purity,  of  truth,  of  holiness, 
of  generosity,  of  self-sacrifice,  Avhicli  the  world  is  altogether 
stranger  to  ? 

But,  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart. 
Can  any  of  us  say  that  we  have  done  so  for  a  day  —  can 
we  say  that  we  have  done  so  for  a  single  hour  ?  And  if  so, 
what  evidence  that  we  are  lost  ? 

"Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  Read  the 
history  of  nations.  The  most  eloquent  chapters  of  every 
history  speak  of  war.  "  Happy,"  said  some  one,  "  is  that 
nation  whose  annals  are  dull," — but  the  dulness  of  a  nation's 
annals  is  its  peacefulness  and  its  quiet.  Read  the  history 
of  any  nation  upon  earth — the  most  enlightened  or  the 
most  barbarous,  —  and  war,  and  battle,  and  intestine  feud, 
and  royal  quarrels,  and  plebeian  passion  are  the  too  sure 
evidence  that  man  is  not  what  he  should  be.  Shut  the 
colored  and  exaggerated  page  of  romance;  lay  aside  the 
beautiful  but  artificial  novel ;  leave  the  scenes  that  are  the 
results  of  the  indirect  and  reflected  lights  of  Christianity ; 
visit  the  dens  of  infamy,  the  retreats  of  misery,  the  felons' 
prison,  the  hospital  of  the  sick,  the  scenes  of  sorrow  that  has 
no  tears,  and  of  suffering  that  has  no  hope  ;  and  then  say  if 
some  great  catastrophe  has  not  overtaken  humanity,  and  if 
Scripture  be  not  below  the  mark,  and  not  above  it,  when  it 
describes  our  world  as  a  lost  and  a  ruined  world.  Who  can 
believe  that  God  originally  made  man  to  live  as  we  find  him 
in  this  great  city  ?  Who  can  believe  that  God  made  us  to 
be  sick,  to  be  tempted,  to  be  pained,  to  be  bereaved,  to  be 
cold,  and  naked,  and  miserable  ?  God  never  originally  made 
us  to  be  so ;  he  did  not  mean  us  to  be  so :  the  evidence  of 
this  is  not  my  conjecture,  but  the  inspired  record  in  Genesis. 
There  we  learn  that  he  made  man  holy,  happy,  in  his  own 
image,  the  lord  and  the  monarch  of  all  the  bright  and  beauti- 
ful things  that  he  surveyed ;  and  then  this,  the  subsequent 
record  of  misery,  and  nakedness,  and  cold,  and  all  the  ills 


LUKE   XIX.  397. 

and  aches  that  betide  humanity,  is  evidence  of  what  has 
come  by  sin.  Sin  entered ;  and  death  by  sin ;  and  so  death 
has  passed  upon  all  men.  Is  then  the  language  of  my  text 
exaggerated  when  it  describes  humanity  as  "  lost  ?  " 

Christ  is  come  to  seek  such  lost  ones  —  to  seek  by  his 
providence,  and  by  his  grace  ;  and  when  he  finds  you,  to  lay 
the  lost  sheep  on  his  shoulder,  and  carry  it  home  rejoicing ; 
to  receive  the  lost  prodigal  to  his  bosom,  and  to  bless  him 
and  make  him  happy  again.  Here  we  find  what  explains 
all  that  befalls  us.  That  gnawing  and  corroding  illness,  wast- 
ing your  frame  like  a  moth,  which  no  physician  can  prescribe 
a  cure  for,  and  time  seems  to  aggravate,  rather  than  to  miti- 
gate or  allay  —  is  Christ  seeking  you,  a  lost  sinner.  That 
exhaustion  of  means,  that  loss  of  property,  that  depriva- 
tion of  all  you  look  forward  to  as  the  beauty  and  the 
illumination  of  your  latter  days,  and  disappearing  like  a 
vision,  leaving  scarce  a  wreck  behind  it  —  is  Christ  seeking 
you,  a  lost  one.  That  bereavement  of  the  babe  from  its 
mother,  —  of  the  head  of  the  house  from  the  home,  —  that 
quenching  of  a  star  that  alone  was  bright  and  beautiful  in 
your  horizon,  —  that  bitter  bereavement  for  which  nature 
had  no  substitute,  and  that  has  made  the  threshold  dark  that 
was  once  so  bright,  and  a  voice  silent  that  was  once  so  elo- 
quent, is  —  Christ  seeking  a  lost  one ;  waiting  and  saying, 
"  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock ;  if  ye  will  open  I 
will  come  in  and  sup  with  you,  and  you  shall  sup  with  me." 
There  are  no  random  blows  in  Providence,  any  more  than  "^ 
accidental  texts  in  the  Bible.  All  that  betides  us  is  benefi- 
cent ;  what  man  calls  accidents,  God  consecrates  as  mission- 
aries. The  accidents  of  man  are  the  emissaries  of  Heaven ; 
and  every  thing  that  comes  to  us  (and  if  we  could  feel  this 
we  should  derive  much  comfort  or  much  instruction  from  it), 
every  thing  that  occurs  to  us  has  a  meaning.  There  are  no 
dead  and  dumb  facts  in  God's  providence ;  there  are  no  dead, 
and  dumb,  and  unmeaning  emissaries  in  God's  dealings. 
34 


398  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Every  thing  that  happens  lias  a  meaning.  Tlic  loss  you 
sustain,  the  blessing  you  receive,  the  friend  you  lose,  the 
friend  you  have,  the  -wealth  you  acquire,  the  estate  that  is 
snatched  from  you,  the  loss  of  health,  or  the  gain  of  it  —  all 
speak,  and  it  needs  you  only  to  have  the  circumcised  ear 
and  the  understanding  heart  to  hear  all  reasoning,  in  silent 
but  persuasive  eloquence,  about  the  things  that  pertain  to 
your  eternal  peace.  It  is  not  the  Bible  only,  but  creation 
that  speaks  Christianity.  All  nature  to  a  Christian  mind  is 
eloquent,  all  j)rovidence  significant ;  and  every  thing,  from 
the  leaf  that  drops  from  the  tree  to  the  monarch  that  is 
stricken  from  his  throne,  are  providential  ministries  from 
God  ;  each  saying,  "  Christ  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  the 
lost."     "  Believe  on  him,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 

But  this  is  not  all.  We  are  ruined  as  well  as  lost.  We 
are  not  simjDly  the  ship  that  has  lost  her  way  upon  the  main, 
but  the  ship  battered  by  the  waves,  stranded  on  the  sea- 
shore, every  day  becoming  drift  wood,  and  leaving  scarce  a 
memorial  of  its  former  magnificence  and  beauty.  We  are 
not  simply  lost,  but  wrecked.  The  castle  is  in  ruins,  the 
beautiful  habitation  is  broken  up ;  —  man,  once  in  the  image 
of  God,  has  lost  it ;  he  is  not  simply  a  lost  sinner,  that  needs 
to  be  sought  by  Christ,  but  he  is  a  ruinetl  sinner,  that  needs 
to  be  saved  and  restored  by  Christ.  We  have  seen  how  he 
saves  the  lost ;  let  us  show  briefly  how  he  saves  the  ruined. 
First,  he  does  so  by  humbling  himself.  "  Being  in  the  form 
of  God,  thinking  it  no  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God  "  —  if 
Christ  is  not  God,  that  is  blasphemy  —  "thinking  it  no  rob- 
bery to  be  equal  with  God,  he  made  himself  of  no  reputa- 
tion, took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  found  in 
the  fashion  of  a  man,  and  became  obedient  to  death,  even 
the  death  of  the  cross."  This  was  Christ's  first  step  to  save 
us,  in  addition  to  the  many  steps  that  I  have  mentioned  in 
order  to  seek  us.  He  laid  aside  the  robes  of  celestial 
majesty  for  the  mock  purple  of  Pilate,  the  diadem  of  heaven 


LUKE    XIX.  899 

for  a  wreath  of  thorns  ahout  his  bleeding  brow,  —  he  gave 
up  the  adoration  of  angels  in  that  temple  which  is  all  space, 
and  he  took  the  reproaches  of  mankind  in  a  nook  of  a 
small  capital  of  a  small  country  upon  earth.  .He  came  to 
his  own,  and  his  ow^i  received  him  not.  But  specially  is  he 
come  to  save  us  by  his  cross,  and  passion,  and  agony,  and 
bloody  sweat.  It  is  the  Atonement  that  is  the  secret  spring 
of  the  salvation  of  a  world.  Give  up  that  truth,  and  you 
take  the  heart  from  Christianity ;  hold  fast  that  magnificent 
and  central  truth  —  that  he  who  knew  no  sin  was  clothed 
with  my  sins  and  suffered,  that  I,  who  have  done  nothing 
but  sin,  may  be  clothed  with  his  righteousness,  and  rejoice. 
Give  up  that  truth,  and  all  is  gone ;  hold  it  fast,  and  you 
may  be  very  wrong  in  your  notions  of  church  government, 
you  may  be  very  wrong  in  your  views  about  baptism,  you 
may  be  undecided  in  a  thousand  and  one  particulars  of  cere- 
mony; but  you  hold  that  which  is  Christianity,  namely, 
Christ  crucified,  —  and  holding  this,  we  can  forgive  the  mi- 
croscopic jots  on  which  we  must  agree  to  differ,  rejoicing  in 
the  magnificent  central  truth,  the  presence  of  which  is  salva- 
tion to  mankind  and  glory  to  that  God  that  redeemed  us. 
Jesus,  then,  our  Sacrifice,  is  the  source  of  our  salvation. 
He  was  spared  not,  that  we  might  be  spared ;  he  was  given 
by  the  Father  that  we  might  never  be  given  up  to  everlast- 
ing death.  His  soul  became  sorrowful  unto  death  that  our 
souls  might  never  taste  the  bitterness  of  eternal  death.  He 
was  forsaken  of  God  that  we  might  never  be  forsaken. 
Through  him,  the  crucified,  we  shall  be  glorified ;  by  his 
stripes  we  are  healed.  He  seeks  us  in  his  providence  as 
lost,  he  saves  us  by  his  grace  as  ruined.  Found  we  never 
can  be  unless  he  seeks  us ;  saved  we  never  can  be  unless 
through  his  atoning  death;  his  precious  blood  is  a  pro- 
pitiation not  only  for  our  sins,  but  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world. 

Let  me  ask,  then,  my  dear  friends,  are  you  found  in  him 


400  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

•when  he  seeks  you  in  his  providence  ?  —  are  you  found  of 
him  by  being  forgiven  through  his  death,  washed  in  his 
blood,  and  accepted  for  his  righteousness'  sake  ?  There  is 
no  mystery  in  the  simple  tidings  of  the  Gospel ;  it  is,  "  Be- 
lieve, and  live;"  it  is,  "Look,  and  live."  The  brazen  ser- 
pent is  lifted  up ;  look,  and  be  healed ;  the  atonement  is 
made  —  not,  to  be  made ;  rest  on  it,  and  be  saved.  The 
great  stumbling-block  of  thousands  is  that  they  cannot  con- 
ceive the  simplicity  of  Christianity.  All  man's  things  are 
cumbersome,  vast,  prodigious ;  but  all  God's  great  plans  are 
simple.  Out  of  a  little  carbon  and  oxygen  he  makes  all  the 
flowers  of  the  field,  all  the  stars  of  the  sky,  all  the  mineral 
contents  of  the  globe.  Out  of  Christ  upon  the  cross  origi- 
nates the  salvation  of  thousands  upon  thousands  to  the  end 
of  the  world.  And  the  process  by  which  you  are  interested 
in  it  is  not  some  laborious,  scientific  process,  nor  some  meta- 
physical discourse  which  only  clever  metaphysicians  can 
understand ;  but  the  process  of  salvation  is  simply  looking 
up  to  God,  and  saying  —  "I  am  a  poor,  lost  sinner,  oh ! 
find  me ;  I  am  a  poor  ruined  sinner,  oh !  forgive  me ;  for  I 
have  learned  that  thou  canst  be  just,  whilst  thou  justifiest 
and  forgivest  me ;  that  thou  canst  remain  true  to  all  thy 
Law,  and  all  thy  glory,  when  thou  lettest  forth  the  expres- 
sions of  thy  mercy  to  the  thief  upon  the  cross,  to  Saul,  to 
the  very  chiefest  and  the  worst  of  sinners." 

This  truth,  "  Christ  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost," 
is  just  at  this  moment  as  fresh,  as  applicable,  as  when  it  was 
first  spoken.  We  do  not  say  so  —  we  are  ashamed  to  do 
that, — but  there  is  a  little  feeling  that  sometimes  comes  into 
our  minds,  leading  us  to  think  that  the  Bible  is  a  sort  of  old 
almanac  —  something  that  refers  to  the  exciting  scenes  of 
the  past,  but  that  it  has  a  very  limited  reference  to  us 
indeed.  It  is  not  so  ;  the  Bible  is  just  as  fresh  in  the  year 
1854  as  if  yesterday  the  air  had  echoed  with  the  sound,  "It 
is  finished ; "  or  as  if  yesterday  the  joyous  news  rever- 


LUKE    XIX.  401 

berated  through   Christendom,  "  Christ  is  risen  from  the 
dead,  the  first-fruits  of  them  that  sleep." 

My  dear  brother,  Christ  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  thee, 
just  as  if  he  had  no  other  errand  from  his  throne  to  his 
cross,  and  nothing  else  to  do  in  the  wide  universe.  What  a 
grand  thought  is  that,  —  and  that  the  very  thought  that  is 
really  appropriate,  and  that  becomes  us,  —  that  Christ  is 
come  as  ready  to  seek  and  save  me  as  if  I  were  the  only 
inhabitant  upon  earth,  as  if  he  had  nothing  else  to  do  in 
heaven,  and  as  if  the  salvation  of  me  were  so  precious  to 
him  that  he  will  not  give  me  up  till  I  am  found  and  saved. 
But  if  that  be  so,  oh !  what  responsibility,  —  what  a  guilt 
cleaves  to  that  man,  like  a  corrosive  curse,  who  rescues  him- 
self from  the  grasp  of  Christ ;  who  cries,  "  I  will  not  have 
this  man  to  rule  over  me ; "  who  flees  from  him  that  pur- 
sues him,  and  will  not  be  saved  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts. 
Oh !  justly  might  an  apostle  exclaim,  —  an  exclamation 
proving  the  painful  error  of  a  learned  professor,  — "  How 
shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation  ? "  Pro- 
fessor Maurice  will  tell  you  that  you  need  not  be  alarmed, 
there  will  be  a  Saviour  in  hell,  you  will  not  be  there  forever. 
But  an  apostle  says,  "  How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so 
great  salvation  ?  "  My  dear  friends,  I  cannot  believe  that 
any  thing  short  of  our  exposure  to  an  infinite  ruin,  warrants 
the  interposition  of  an  infinite  God  to  save  us ;  and  the 
necessary  rebound  of  a  limited  hell  is  a  Saviour  who  is  not 
God.  It  is  a  very  painful  thing,  a  most  undesirable  thing, 
to  speak  of  ceaseless  suffering ;  and  I  have  often  said,  what 
I  feel,  that  the  only  thing  in  the  Bible  that  often  puzzles 
and  perplexes  me,  is,  that  when  this  earth  shall  be  reinstated 
amid  the  happy  sisterhood  of  stars,  and  its  regenesis  shall 
make  it  grander  than  at  first,  there  should  be  in  any  one 
nook  of  God's  universe  a  spot  where  there  shall  be  ceaseless 
sin,  ceaseless  sorrow,  and  ceaseless  suffering.  I  could  not 
believe  it  if  God  had  not  said  it,  but  he  has  said  it,  and  he 

34* 


402  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

knows  what  is  true ;  and  because  he  lias  said  it,  and  this 
book  settles  all  controversies  and  ends  all  disputes,  I  am  sat- 
isfied it  is  true. 

I  do  not  see  that  the  endless  duration  of  heaven  is  de- 
scribed in  stronger  terms  than  the  endless  duration  of  hell. 
But  what  is  the  use  of  trying  to  dilute  hell,  when  every  soul 
is  welcome  to  go  to  heaven  ?  If  any  were  doomed  by  God's 
decree  to  go  to  hell,  then  I  would  try  at  all  risks  to  soften 
his  prospect,  and  to  show,  if  I  could  only  get  a  peg  to  hang 
an  argument  on,  that  hell  is  not  for  ever,  —  I  would  try  to 
soften  and  mitigate  the  prospect  to  the  very  utmost;  but 
there  is  not  a  soul  within  hearing  of  the  Gospel  that  goes  to 
hell,  except  by  his  own  deliberate,  wilful,  criminal  rejection 
of  the  hand  that  would  snatch  him  like  a  brand  from  the 
burning,  and  make  him  a  tree  in  the  Paradise  of  our  God. 
There  is  no  predestination  dragging  you  to  hell,  there  is  no 
curse,  like  an  ocean  load,  pressing  you  to  ruin.  All  that 
hear  are  welcome,  every  soul  Avithout  exception,  to  have 
peace  with  God  for  ever.  The  gates  of  heaven  are  so  open, 
the  road  is  so  plain,  the  way  so  clear,  that  all  my  energy  I 
must  expend  in  showing  how  welcome  you  are  to  heaven.  I 
have  no  time  to  spare  in  trying  to  dilute  the  miseries  of  the 
lost,  or  proving  by  metaphysical  crotchets  that  they  do  not 
suffer  for  ever. 

Lift  your  eyes  to  the  hills ;  look  to  the  outstretched  arm 
of  him  who  is  mighty  to  save ;  remember  that  salvation  is 
now  for  the  worst  and  the  oldest ;  fear  only  lest  a  day  will 
come,  "  Because  I  have  called,  and  have  stretched  out  my 
hand,  and  ye  refused,  and  regarded  not ;  when  your  fear  will 
come  as  desolation,  and  your  destruction  as  the  whirlwind, 
when  distress  and  anguish  shall  come  upon  you ;  and  when 
ye  will  call  upon  me,  but  I  will  not  answer ;  and  they  shall 
seek  me,  but  they  shall  not  find  me."  That  time  is  not  come ; 
it  need  not  come :  Christ  has  come  to  us,  we  have  not  to  go 
to  him ;  we  have  but  to  believe,  receive,  rejoice  in  his  salva- 


LUKE  XIX.  403 

tion,  by  liis  Holy  Spirit,  and,  as  said  of  Jacob,  lift  up  our 
feet,  and  go  on  our  way  rejoicing. 


Note.  —  The  giving  tlie  /zva  to  each  is  a  totally  different  thing  from 
giving  to  one  five,  to  another  two,  and  to  a  third  one  talent.  The 
sums  given  arc  here  all  the  same,  and  all  very  small.  The  (Attic) 
mina  is  -^^  of  a  talent,  and  equal  to  about  3l.  of  our  money.  In  Mat- 
thew the  man  gives  his  whole  property  to  his  servants  ;  here  he  makes 
trial  of  them  with  these  small  sums  (e'^ax'-cfTov,  see  ver.  17);  irpayfi. 
(=  epya^ea^E,  Matt.  ev.  (hepx-)  "while  I  go  and  return,  till  I  come." 
[14.]  The  nobleman,  son  of  a  king,  is  the  Lord  Jesus ;  the  kingdom  is 
that  over  his  own  citizens,  the  Jews.  They  sent  a  message  after  him ; 
their  cry  went  up  to  heaven,  in  the  persecutions  of  his  servants,  etc., 
"  We  will  not  have  this  man  to  reign  over  us." 

[43.]  OTL  declares,  not  "  the  things  hidden  from  thine  eyes,"  so  that 
it  should  be  rendered,  "  namely,  that  the  days  shall  come,"  etc.,  but 
the  awful  reason  which  there  was  for  the  fervent  wish  just  expressed 
—  "for,"  or  "  because."  [xapana]  A  mound  with  palisades.  The  ac- 
count of  its  being  built  is  in  Joseph.  (B.  J.  v.  6.  2.)  Wlien  the  Jews 
destroyed  this,  Titus  built  a  Avail  round  them  (lb.  12.  2)  — see  Is.  xxix. 
2,  3,  4  —  to  Avhich  the  Lord  here  tacitly  refers.  [44.]  eda0.  is  used  in 
two  meanings  :  "  shall  level  thy  buildings  to  the  foundation,  and  dash 
thy  children  against  the  ground."  ruTEKva  is  not  "infants,"  but  "thy 
children,"  in  general.  \ovk  u^7]a.'\  See  Matt.  xxiv.  2,  and  note  — 
avO'  uv  .  .  .  .  not  "  because  of  thy  sins  and  rebellions ; "  those  might 
be  all  blotted  out,  hadst  thou  known  —  recognized  —  the  time  of  thy 
visiting  by  me.  iizLOK.  is  a  word  of  ambiguous  meaning  —  visitation, 
either  for  good  or  for  evil.  It  brings  at  once  here  before  us  the  coming 
seeking  fruit  (ch.  xiii.  7),  and  the  returning  of  the  Lord  of  the  vine- 
yard (ch.  XX.  16).  It  is,  however,  the  first  or  favorable  meaning  of 
kiTLaKonrj  that  is  here  prominent.  —  Alford. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

AUTHORITY  IN  SCRIPTURE  —  QUESTION  OP  JESUS  SILENCES  THE 
PRIESTS  — THE  VINEYARD  —  THE  LABORERS  MALTREAT  THE  SER- 
VANTS   OF    THE    LORD    OF    THE   VINEYARD — JUDGMENT   ON   THE 

GUILTY THE    REJECTED    HEADSTONE MALIGNANT    ATTEMPTS 

TO   ENSNARE   JESUS  —  C^SAR   AND   HIS  CURRENCY  —  THE   RESUR- 
KECTION STRANGE   SUPPOSITION  —  DAVId'S    SON. 

In  the  chapter  which  we  have  previously  read  you  will 
recollect  that  Jesus  came  into  the  temple,  and  began  to  cast 
out  those  that  sold  doves,  telling  them  that  they  had  made 
his  Father's  house  a  den  of  thieves,  instead  of  regarding  it, 
what  it  had  been  written  to  be,  a  house  of  prayer  for  all  peo- 
ple. When  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  saw  this  act,  and  how 
the  temple  was  purified  of  those  that  thus  polluted  it,  they 
asked  him  the  question,  "  By  what  authority  doest  thou  these 
things  ?  "  They  did  not  examine  the  merit  or  the  demerit 
of  the  act,  but  they  wished  to  trace  back  the  actor  to  the 
source  of  his  authority,  under  which,  and  by  which,  he  felt 
commissioned  to  do  these  things. 

You  will  notice  our  Lord  gave  them  his  authority  —  not 
a  commission  from  heaven,  as  he  might  have  done,  but  a  text 
from  the  Bible,  as  he  always  did.  He  said,  "  It  is  written, 
My  house  is  the  house  of  prayer ; "  that  is  my  authority,  and 
you  know  that  the  authority  is  conclusive.  But  they,  like 
true  ecclesiastics,  anxious  to  get  rid  of  the  Bible,  which  was 
too  conclusive  and  too  transparent  to  be  met,  resolved  to  con- 
ceal it  from  their  minds,  and  to  bring  forward  a  question  of 
mere   genealogical   succession :   "  By  what  authority  doest 

(404) 


LUKE  XX.  405 

thou  these  thhigs  ?  "  Jesus,  knowing  that  he  had  given  a 
text  as  the  warrant  of  his  conduct,  quoted  Scripture  as  a 
precedent  for  the  course  that  he  had  pursued,  and,  aware 
that  they  were  avoiding  the  real  question  that  was  at  issue, 
said  to  them :  "  Very  well ;  if  you  Avant  me  to  give  you  the 
authority  by  which  I  do  these  things"  —  assuming,  for  argu- 
ment's sake,  that  he  had  not  given  what  he  really  had  given, 
a  text  from  the  Bible  —  "I  will  also  ask  you  one  thing ;  and 
answ^er  me  :  The  baptism  of  John,  was  it  from  heaven,  or  of 
men  ?  As  you  are  diverting  me  from  the  real  subject,  the 
conclusive  text  that  I  have  quoted,  I  will  turn  your  atten- 
tion from  such  a  carping  and  cavilling  question,  to  something 
that  you  are  called  upon  in  the  presence  of  the  people  de- 
cidedly and  plainly  to  answer.  I  ask  you.  Scribes  and  Phar- 
isees :  John's  baptism,  was  it  from  heaven,  —  had  it  a  heav- 
enly commission,  —  or  of  men?"  calling  by  the  name  of 
baptism  the  mission,  the  authority,  and  discipleship  of  John 
the  Baptist.  They  were  cunning  enough  to  reason  -within 
themselves  in  this  way  :  "  If  we  say.  From  heaven ;  then  we 
know  that  Jesus  will  reply  to  us.  Then,  why  did  you  not  sub- 
mit to  be  baptized  ?  Why  did  you  not  confess  your  sins  to 
God,  and  look  forward  for  me,  the  Messiah,  of  whom  John 
was  the  herald  ?  "  On  the  other  hand,  they  argued,  "  If  we 
shall  say  that  he  was  a  mere  human  enthusiast,  then  we  fear 
the  people ; "  for  the  people  were  persuaded  that  John  was 
a  celestial  messenger.  "  We  fear,  first  of  all,  a  confutation 
of  ourselves  before  the  .people  if  we  answer  one  way ;  and 
we  fear  an  insurrection  against  us  by  the  people  if  we  an- 
swer the  other  way.  We  cannot  accept  the  one  or  the  other 
without  being  impaled  on  one  horn  of  a  dilemma :  our  best 
w^ay,  therefore,  and  indeed  the  only  way,  and  the  safest,  is  to 
be  silent,  and  to  refuse  to  give  him  any  answer  at  all."  The 
consequence  was  that,  as  they  would  not  answer  this  plain 
question,  which  involved  their  own  criminality,  he  would  not 
answer  a  question  which  there  was  no  need  to  reply  to,  be- 


406'  SCRIPTURE     READINGS. 

cause  he  had  already  given  a  text  as  an  authority  for  his 
conduct :  "  Neither  tell  I  you  "  —  not,  I  cannot  tell  —  but,  I 
do  not  tell  you  —  "by  what  authority  I  do  these  things." 

And  then,  in  order  to  follow  up  this  remark  with  a  practi- 
cal lesson,  he  produces  the  figure  or  imagery  of  a  vineyard, 
the  common  imagery  under  which  the  Jewish  nation  and 
economy  were  set  forth :  "  A  certain  man  planted  a  vine- 
yard," and,  in  the  language  of  Isaiah,  "  hedged  it  round  "  — 
walled  it  in,  paid  particular  attention  to  it  —  "  and  let  it  forth 
to  husbandmen,"  who  w^ere  no  doubt  the  Jewish  people,  "  and 
went  into  a  f\ir  country,"  that  is,  heaven,  "  for  a  long  time," 
meaning  to  return.  And  at  the  proper  time  he  sent  a  ser- 
vant to  these  leaseholders  of  the  vineyard,  that  they  should 
give  him  —  what  it  was  right  to  expect  —  either  payment  in 
cash,  or  payment  in  kind  ;  he  was  willing  to  accept  for  their 
convenience  payment  in  kind,  and,  therefore,  that  "  they 
should  give  him  of  the  fruit  of  the  vineyard."  But  the  hus- 
bandmen, instead  of  paying  their  debts,  instead  of  paying 
their  rent,  which  they  were  bound  to  do,  and  had  promised 
to  do,  "  sent  him  away  empty,"  without  paying  any  thing. 
He  then  sent  a  second  servant,  that  they  might  have  no  ex- 
cuse. But  they  treated  him  even  worse ;  for  they  not  only 
sent  him  away  empty,  but  "  they  beat  him  also,  and  entreated 
him  shamefully,"  and  sent  him  away  empty  like  the  first. 
He  was  determined  not  to  leave  them  without  doing  their 
duty  —  for  to  permit  a  man  to  omit  duty  is  the  next  thing  to 
tempting  a  man  to  commit  sin.  If  you  see  a  man  omitting 
to  do  duty,  you  ought  to  tell  him,  just  as  truly  as  when  you 
see  a  man  committing  what  is  sin.  It  is  not  at  all  a  Christian 
sentiment  to  say,  "  It  is  his  own  business ; "  "  It  is  no  busi- 
ness of  mine  to  meddle."  The  Bible,  the  best  authority  it  is 
possible  to  have,  says,  upon  this  subject,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
suffer  sin  upon  thy  brother ; "  that  is,  if  you  see  what  is  sin, 
tell  him  of  it ;  do  not  tell  it  behind  his  back,  but  go  and  tell 
him  first  at  his  house :  do  not  tell  him  rudely ;  do  not  teU 


LUKE   XX.  407 

him  as  if  you  were  far  better  than  he ;  but  with  the  utmosi 
courtesy,  but  uncompromising  faithfuhiess,  say,  That  is 
wrong,  or,  This  you  ought  to  do ;  and  by  doing  so,  you  show 
yourself  to  be  the  children  of  the  Father  who  is  in  heaven. 
Well,  this  lord  of  the  vineyard  would  not  suffer  them  to  live 
in  the  neglect  of  a  duty  that  rightly  devolved  upon  them, 
and  therefore  he  sent  a  third  person ;  but,  instead  of  that 
third  person  meeting  with  greater  success,  they  wounded 
him  also,  maimed  him,  crippled  him,  and  sent  him  away 
empty  also.  When  men  are  determined  to  have  their  own 
way,  there  is  no  extreme  to  which  they  will  not  have  re- 
course. The  man  that  owes  you  money,  if  he  does  not 
mean  to  pay  you,  will  first  try  to  cross  the  street  and  pass 
you  on  the  other  side;  if  you  be  very  pertinacious  in  asking 
for  the  payment  of  his  money,  he  will  insult  you ;  and  if  you 
still  persist,  he  will  have  recourse  to  more  desperate  and  vio- 
lent means.  So  it  was  in  this  parable.  Then  he  determined 
to  send  his  own  son ;  and  he  argues  very  truly.  Surely  they 
will  respect  him,  because  he  is  a  higher  personage ;  and  he 
may  expect  a  better  treatment.  But,  instead  of  that,  they 
cast  the  heir  out  of  the  vineyard.  They  said,  If  we  can 
only  kill  him,  then  no  more  rent  will  be  demanded ;  we  shall 
no  more  have  a  leasehold,  but  a  freehold ;  the  inheritance  of 
the  vineyard  will  then  be  ours  —  let  us  kill  him,  and  cast 
him  out  of  the  vineyard. 

Well,  now,  the  question  is  asked,  the  appeal  is  made  to 
the  conscience  of  humanity,  "  What,  therefore,  shall  the ' 
lord  of  the  vineyard  do  unto  them  ?  "  It  is  impossible  to 
come  to  any  other  conclusion  than  this :  If  there  be  justice 
upon  earth,  "  he  shall  come  and  destroy  these  husbandmen, 
and  shall  give  the  vineyard  to  others."  And  the  common 
people  saw  the  application  of  the  parable  to  the  Jewish  na- 
tion, and  they  said,  "  God  forbid." 

But  all  this  has  happened.      Palestine  is  no  more  the  seat 
of  the  vineyard,  its  walls  are  broken  down,  its  fanes  are  lev- 


408  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

elled  with  the  dust,  its  glory  is  dei)arted,  all  its  fragrance 
and  its  beauty  are  desolate,  and  the  husbandmen,  that  is,  the 
Jews,  are  refugees,  exiles,  wandering  over  all  the  earth,  a 
people  without  a  nation,  children  without  a  home ;  only  re- 
taining in  their  most  desperate  circumstances  the  inextin- 
guishable hope  of  what  shall  be  the  case  —  their  restoration 
when  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  is  come,  and  their  pre- 
eminence as  the  chief  and  most  favored  people  of  God. 

We  then  read,  that  he  added,  Avhat  is  so  just  and  so  natu- 
ral a  consequence  of  it,  that  "  the  stone  which  the  builders 
rejected,  the  same  is  become  the  head  of  the  corner."  If 
this  parable  has  not  already  shown  you,  what  do  you  under- 
stand by  the  prophecy,  that  the  chief  stone  will  be  rejected 
by  the  builders  ?  I  have  come  to  you  —  the  great  Light  in 
Zion,  and  it  follows,  rejected  by  you,  that  you  are  the  guilty 
people,  and  to  you  the  parable  applies,  and  I  tell  you  by 
another  form,  and  under  another  imagery,  that  this  stone 
will  fall  upon  you,  because  you  have  rejected  it,  and  it  will 
grind  you  to  pieces.  The  chief  priests  and  scribes,  we  read, 
sought  to  lay  hands  upon  him  ;  and  the  only  reason  why 
these  ecclesiastics,  that  sat  in  Moses'  seat,  and  professed  to 
teach  Moses'  law,  did  not  lay  hold  upon  tlie  Prophet  of 
whom  Moses  spake,  was,  not  that  they  loved  him,  or  dread- 
ed his  power,  or  hated  him  less,  but  that  they  dreaded  a 
popular  insurrection  ;  for  throughout  the  whole  of  the  Gos- 
pels it  is  very  remarkable  to  notice  that  priests  rejected 
Christ ;  kings  consented  to  crucify  him ;  but  the  common 
people  always  heard  him  gladly.  And  many  a  time  the 
Son  of  man  escaped  the  fangs  of  the  Pharisees  under  the 
shelter  and  protection  of  the  tumultuous  crowd  assembled  in 
the  streets  to  hear  him.  And  that  has  been  the  history  of 
the  Christian  Church  throughout:  the  last  retreat  of  true 
religion  has  been  amid  the  masses ;  the  first  corrupters  of  it 
have  been  the  priests.  It  is  very  singular,  but  it  is  very 
true,  that  the  history  of  Christendom  is  just  the  continuance 


LUKE    XX.  409 

of  the  same  fact  tliat  occurs  in  tlie  Gospels  :  tlie  humble  and 
the  lowly  retaining  and  loving  the  truth ;  the  exalted  and 
the  dignified  crucifying  the  Lord  of  glory  afresh,  and  putting 
him  to  an  open  shame.  Well,  these  scribes  and  ecclesias- 
tics, since  they  could  not  destroy  him,  tried  to  waylay,  or 
ensnare,  or  entrap  him ;  and  the  plan  they  adopted  was  this. 
Kecollect,  Judea  had  become  a  Roman  province :  nothing 
was  so  detestable  to  the  Jews  as  the  government  of  Csesar, 
the  sceptre  of  the  Roman  emperor,  and  yet,  though  detest- 
able to  their  feelings,  they  were  compelled  to  pay  tribute 
to  a  government  that  they  could  not  escape,  whether  they 
liked  it  or  not,  and  the  Publicans  were  appointed  to  collect 
that  tribute.  The  Pharisees  thought  they  would  fairly  en- 
tangle him.  They  said  to  him,  "  Is  it  lawful  for  us  to  give 
tribute  unto  Caesar,  or  no  ?  "  If  Jesus  had  replied,  "  It  is 
not  lawful  to  give  tribute  to  Ctesar,"  then  the  governing 
power,  namely,  Cassar  and  his  tribunals,  would  punish  him 
as  a  rebel,  refusing  to  pay  the  taxes  that  belonged  to  C^sar. 
If  he  had  said,  on  the  other  hand,  "  It  is  lawful  to  give 
tribute  to  Caesar,"  then  the  Jews,  the  people,  instead  of  tak- 
ing his  part,  would  have  risen  up  against  him  as  an.  advo- 
cate of  the  supremacy  of  Ccesar,  of  God's  heritage  being 
subjected  to  Roman  government.  Can  this  be  the  Messiah, 
the  Great  Deliverer  ?  You  can  see,  therefore,  how  difficult 
it  was  to  answer  this  question,  either  in  the  affirmative  or 
the  negative.  Jesus,  therefore,  wise  as  the  serpent,  and  still 
harmless  as  the  dove,  and  giving  lessons  in  the  very  replies 
that  he  made  to  their  carping  and  cavilling  questions,  asked 
them,  "  Show  me  a  penny,"  —  a  denarius,  equal  to  about 
sevenpence  halfpenny  in  our  money.  It  is  implied  they 
showed  him  a  penny.  He  then  saw  an  image  on  it ;  just  as 
the  image  of  Queen  Victoria  is  on  our  coins,  so  the  image 
of  Caesar  was  upon  the  Roman  coins  then  in  currency 
throughout  the  land  of  Judea.  Jesus  said,  therefore, 
"  Whose  image  and  superscription  hath  it  ?  "     The  answer 

55 


410  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

they  were  constrained  to  give,  was,  "  This  is  Caesar's  im- 
age." And  that  coin  which  you  take  from  your  purse  is 
the  very  money  with  which  you  buy  your  bread,  you  recog- 
nize it  as  the  currency  of  the  realm :  then  phiinly  that  is 
the  recognition  of  Coesar  as  the  actual  governor.  This  is 
Ciesar's  coin ;  give  you  unto  Caesar  that  which  you  your- 
selves must  admit  to  be  Caesar's  ;  the  very  currency  of  your 
realm ;  and  render  to  God  those  duties  from  which  you  are 
shrinking,  and  from  which  you  have  apostatized.  How 
beautiful  the  reply  !  how  deep  the  wisdom  that  is  in  it !  how 
instructive  the  lessons  which  it  contains!  teaching  the 
Christian  that  all  that  is  fairly  due  to  Caesar  he  is  to  render. 
The  Caesar  is  the  governing  power  of  the  realm  you  live  in. 
If  I  were  in  Turkey,  my  Ctesar  would  be  the  Sultan ;  if  I 
w^ere  in  Russia,  my  Caesar  would  be  the  Czar — which  is 
the  corruption  of  "  Ctesar ; "  if  I  were  in  America,  it  would 
be  the  Republic  of  the  United  States  ;  if  I  were  in  Tuscany, 
it  would  be  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany ;  however  much  I 
might  dislike  these  Caesars,  and  their  past  and  actual  con- 
duct, still  it  w^ould  be  my  duty  to  pray  for  the  powers  that 
be  ;  but  to  obey  and  delight  in,  beyond  and  above  them  all, 
the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life. 

After  this,  when  they,  marvelling  at  his  answer,  it  is  said, 
"  held  their  peace,"  the  Sadducees,  another  sect,  brought 
another  question  to  him,  and  it  was  a  very  strange  one, 
and  probably  one  that  had  no  truth  in  it.  The  Saddu- 
cees, you  are  aware,  denied  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead.  And  very  many  persons  deny  a  doctrine  just  because 
they  do  not  understand  it.  Many  persons  say,  "  We  cannot 
believe  in  justification  by  faith  alone  in  the  righteousness  of 
Christ,"  because  they  think  it  leads  to  sin.  But  the  fact  is, 
that  they  do  not  understand  the  doctrine,  or  its  tendency,  or 
its  nature,  or  its  proper  effects  and  consequences.  So  these 
Sadducees  did  not  know  what  the  resurrection  really  was, 
or  the  nature  of  the  risen  body ;  and  therefore  they  sup- 


LUKE    XX.  411 

posed  a  case  —  for  I  do  not  believe  that  this  was  ^n  actual 
case  ;  I  do  not  believe  that  there  was  any  woman  that  had 
seven  husbands  in  succession.  But  to  make  the  case  as  im- 
possible as  they  could,  and  to  puzzle  the  Lord  of  glory  to 
the  very  utmost,  they  supposed  a  woman  who  had  seven 
husbands  in  succession  —  then  whose  wife  should  she  be  in 
the  resurrection  ?  They  supposed  that  the  resurrection  was 
not  the  resurrection  of  the  body  in  the  likeness  of  Christ,  in 
all  its  beaut}',  spirituality,  and  excellence ;  but  that  it  would 
just  be  the  resurrection  of  what  they  saw  ;  of  the  same  soci- 
ety, of  the  same  social  relationships,  the  same  condition  in 
all  respects.  Our  Lord's  answer  was  decisive  ;  In  the  res- 
urrection "  they  neither  marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage." 
That  ended  the  controversy ;  and,  therefore,  your  idea 
about  the  existence  of  those  relationships  in  the  resurrection 
is  an  absurd  one ;  and  if  you  knew  what  the  resurrection 
really  means,  you  would  not  entertain  so  absurd,  so  extrav- 
agant and  impossible  a  thought. 

At  the  close  of  the  chapter  we  have  the  statement,  that 
"  they  durst  not  ask  him  any  more  questions  at  all."  But 
he,  following  up  the  victories  he  had  gained  —  and  it  is  very 
beautiful  to  see  the  vein  of  connection  that  runs  through  the 
chapter  —  felt  within  himself,  that  as  they  tried  to  puzzle 
him,  and  he  had  only  puzzled  them,  he  would  now,  in  con- 
clusion, put  a  question  to  them  that  should  set  their  minds 
a  working,  and  necessitate  a  consideration  to  which  they 
had  not  been  accustomed.  He  said,  "  How  say  they  that 
Christ  is  David's  son  ? "  You  will  not  understand  this 
question  properly,  except  you  will  recollect  that  "  Christ " 
is  the  word  equivalent  to  "  Messiah."  "  How  do  the  scribes 
say  that  the  Messiah  "  —  whoever  he  be,  without  saying  he 
was  the  Messiah  —  "  how  do  the  scribes  say  that  the  Mes- 
siah, when  he  appears,  will  be  David's  son,  whereas  David 
expressly  says  that  he  is  David's  Lord,  or  David's  God? 
How  can  you  explain  this  ?  "     They  could  not  answer ;  they 


412  SCRIPTURE    TwEADINGS. 

were  unable  to  do  so ;  and  there  was  no  answer  on  their 
principles  —  the  Socinian  can  give  no  answer;  the  Chris- 
tian can:  He  is  David's  son  according  to  the  flesh,  because 
descended  of  David's  family  ;  but  he  is  David's  Lord,  be- 
cause he  is  also  God  —  the  Root  of  David  as  well  as  the 
Offspring  —  God  manifest  in  the  flesh. 

When  he  had  silenced  them  all,  he  presses  home  a  prac- 
tical duty  on  the  people,  not  to  be  the  tools  of  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees.  Many  would  have  said  to  him,  "  AV^iy,  this 
is  preaching  against  the  ecclesiastical  authority."  They 
might  have  said,  "  This  is  the  established  Church,  and  you 
ought  not  to  say  a  word  against  it."  But  because  a  church 
is  estabhshed,  it  is  not,  therefore,  infallible ;  and  if  a  Church 
do  wrong,  whether  it  be  Established  or  Dissenting,  it  is  the 
duty  of  every  man  to  try  to  set  it  right ;  it  is  rendering 
unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's  to  do  so.  Therefore, 
Jesus  says,  "  Beware  of  these  very  scribes ; "  though  they 
have  the  true  succession,  though  they  sit  in  Moses'  chair, 
though  they  are  really  the  lawful  officers  by  lawful  appoint- 
ment, yet  they  have  so  completely  renounced  the  spirit  and 
the  teaching  of  Moses,  that  I  tell  you  to  beware  of  them. 
They  walk  about  the  streets  in  long  robes  —  something  like 
the  priests  on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  that  people  may  see 
them  to  be  persons  of  authority  and  influence  :  "  they  love 
greetings  in  the  markets "  —  that  people  should  bow  to 
them,  defer  to  them,  make  way  to  them,  —  "  and  the  highest 
seats  in  the  synagogues,"  —  ecclesiastical  distinction  amid 
the  chief  rulers  of  the  earth,  the  tiara  still  claiming  supe- 
riority to  crowns  and  diadems,  —  "  the  chief  rooms  at 
feasts  "  —  to  be  placed  at  the  right  hand  of  the  chairman  at 
every  public  dinner  or  meeting.  And,  alas,  alas  !  whilst 
they  are  assuming  these  dignities,  and  seeking  this  post  of 
power  and  preeminence,  they  are  "  devouring  widows' 
Louses,"  and  for  an  atonement  make  long  prayers  in  the 
corners  of  the  streets  and  in  the  synagogues,  to  be  heard  of 


LUKE    XX.  413 

men.  And  the  result  of  it  is,  that  their  ambition  will  not 
be  always  disguised;  they  shall  receive  the  greater  con- 
demnation. 


Note,  —  [34.]  ol  viol  ....  Peculiar  to  Luke,  and  important  for  this 
present  state  of  men.  Marriage  is  an  ordained  and  natural  thing;  but 
in  Tu  aiuvL  eKelvu,  which  is  by  the  context  the  state  of  the  first  resur- 
rection, (nothing  being  said  of  the  rest  of  the  dead,  though  the  bare 
fact  might  be  predicated  of  them  also,)  they  who  are  found  worthy  to 
obtain  that  state  of  life,  and  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  are  no 
longer  under  the  ordinance,  for  neither  can  they  any  more  die  ;  i.  e. 
they  will  have  no  need  of  a  succession  and  renewal,  which  is  the  main 
purpose  of  marriage. 

The  iaayy.  yap  eiai  is  alleged  not  as  showing  them  to  be  uTrad^eig  k. 
u(pLArj6ovoL  (Euthym.),  but  as  setting  forth  their  immortality,  viol  r.  d-. 
is  here  used,  not  in  its  ethical  sense,  as  applied  to  believers  in  this 
world,  but  its  metaphysical  sense,  as  denoting  the  essential  state  of  the 
blessed  after  the  resurrection,  —  "they  are,  by  their  resurrection,  es- 
sentially partakers  of  the  Divine  nature,  and  so  cannot  die."  When 
Meyer  says  that  tlie  Lord  only  speaks  of  the  risen,  and  has  not  then  in 
his  view  the  "  quick,"  at  the  time  of  his  coming,  there  must  be  remem- 
bered the  "  change"  which  shall  pass  on  them  (1  Cor.  xv.  51). 


35* 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

THE  LIBERALITY  OF  RICH  AND  POOR  —  COMPARATIVE  VALUE  —  A 
LIVING  STONE  —  PROPHECY  AND  JOSEPHUS  —  ESCAPE  OF  CHRIS' 
TIANS  —  DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  TEMPLE — LITERAL  FULFILMENT 
OF  PROPHECY  —  MAHOMETANISM  —  3IISSIONS  —  JEWS. 

Those  great  and  startling  plienomena  previous  to  the 
destruction  of  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  which  marked  the 
downfall  of  the  Jewish  polity,  are  all  described  at  greater 
length,  and  in  terms  if  possible  more  emphatic,  in  the  24th 
chapter  of  the  Gospel  according  to  p-t.  Matthew.  The 
chapter  begins  with  a  very  beautiful  and  instructive  incident. 
Jesus  saw  the  rich  men  casting  their  gifts  into  the  treasury. 
The  temple  was  maintained  by  the  offerings  of  the  people ; 
and  accordingly  each  gave  according  as  he  believed  that 
God  had  prospered  him.  But  amidst  the  crowd  of  those 
that  rushed  in  and  gave  munificently  he  saw  a  poor  widow, 
who,  without  ostentation  or  display,  gave  two  mites ;  a  very 
minute  sum ;  but  the  excellency  of  the  two  mites  was  not 
the  smallness  of  the  sum,  but  the  largeness  of  the  heart  of 
her  that  gave  it.  We  notice  here,  how  Jesus  selected  in  the 
group  the  giver  of  the  least  as  the  best  and  most  expressive 
exponent  of  true  Christian  liberality.  It  is  not  what  the 
hand  gives,  but  what  the  heart  would  give  if  it  could,  that 
Jesus  looks  at.  The  penny  that  is  given  by  one  is  a  far 
more  expressive  proof  of  true  Christian  liberality  than  the 
pounds  that  are  given  by  others.  God  expects  all  he  has 
called  in  his  grace  to  feel  liberality  in  the  heart ;  but  in  his 
providence  he  has  enabled  one  to  express  it  by  pennies, 

(414) 


LUICE   XXI.  415 

another  to  express  it  by  shillings,  and  another  ]by  pounds, 
and  another  by  hundreds  and  thousands  of  pounds.  To 
him  all  hearts  are  open,  all  desires  known ;  and  he  judges 
of  what  man  is,  not  by  what  the  hand  puts  into  the  plate, 
but  by  what  the  heart  feels  it  would  if  it  had  in  providence 
the  power  to  bestow. 

How  very  interesting,  too,  that  whilst  the  disciples  were 
speaking  of  the  temple,  of  the  magnificent  stones  and  gems 
with  which  it  was  filled  and  adorned,  he  selected  as  the 
most  magnificent  of  all,  not  a  great  stone,  not  the  golden 
roof  or  gates  that  Herod  had  made  a  present  of;  but  what 
the  Pharisee  and  scribe  did  not  and  would  not  notice  —  a 
living  stone ;  a  poor  widow,  who  cast  into  the  treasury  all 
that  she  had :  teaching  us  that  when  Christ  looks  down  at 
churches,  he  does  not  estimate  the  height  of  their  spires,  the 
beauty  of  their  stones,  the  exquisite  nature  of  their  carving ; 
but  he  regards  as  truly  a  church  where  two  or  three  true 
Christians  are  met  in  his  name ;  and  thousands  met  for  any 
other  purpose  he  regards  as  no  church  or  congregation  at  all. 

The  disciples  ask  him,  "  When  shall  these  things  be  ? " 
That  is  the  first  question ;  and  the  second  question,  "•  What 
signs  will  there  be  when  these  things  come  to  pass  ? "  In 
Matthew  it  is  differently  expressed :  "  When  shall  these 
things  be  ?  "  —  relating  to  the  downfall  of  the  Jewish  polity ; 
and,  "  What  shall  be  the  sign  of  thy  personal  appear- 
ance ?  "  —  two  events  perfectly  distinct ;  and  to  each  our 
Lord  gives  an  answer  both  in  Matthew  xxiv.  and  in  the 
chapter  we  have  read.  His  answer  to  the  first  question, 
"  When  shall  be  the  destruction  or  the  downfall  of  Jerusa- 
lem ?  "  is  conveyed,  first,  in  warnings  to  themselves, —  "  Take 
heed  that  ye  be  not  deceived :  for  many  shall  come  in  my 
name,  saying,  I  am  Christ ;  and  the  time  draweth  near ;  go 
ye  not  therefore  after  them."  Persons  will  appear  just  be- 
fore the  destruction  of  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  professing 
to  be  Christ  returned  again  from  heaven,  gathering  infatu- 


416  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

ated  crowds  of  fanatics  around  them,  and  goading  them  to 
insurrections  against  the  Roman  government,  thereby  excit- 
ing the  fury  of  the  Romans,  and  aggravating  their  own 
sufferings  and  misery.  But  Jesus  warns  them  ;  "  When  ye 
shall  hear  of  wars  and  commotions,  be  not  terrified :  for 
these  things  must  first  come  to  pass ;  but  the  end  is  not  by 
and  by,"  —  the  end  of  your  polity  is  not  yet.  He  also  tells 
them,  that  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  there  should 
be  earthquakes,  that  is,  convulsions  or  shakings  of  the  earth 
in  divers  places ;  that  there  should  be  famines,  and  pesti- 
lences, and  fearful  sights.  These  actually  occurred,  and  in 
order  to  know  the  fulfilment  of  these  prophecies,  we  should 
read  Josephus,  Avho  was  a  Jew,  serving  under  Titus  and 
Vespasian  in  the  Roman  army,  a  disbeliever  in  Christ,  who 
never  heard  the  discourse  preached  in  this  chapter,  and  cer- 
tainly never  read  it ;  and  if  he  had  read  it,  did  not  believe 
it.  Just  read  the  sceptic  Jew ;  and  you  will  find  in  his  his- 
tory that  every  prediction  in  this  chapter  relating  to  the 
downfall  of  Jerusalem  was  literally  and  verbatim  fulfilled. 

He  then  says,  that  the  apostles,  or  those  that  professed  his 
name,  should  be  taken  in  the  synagogues,  should  be  cast  into 
prison,  should  be  hated  of  all  men  for  his  name's  sake.  But 
he  tells  them  in  patience  to  possess  their  souls,  for  not  a  hair 
of  their  head  should  perish. 

Then  he  tells  them  that  when  they  should  see  Jerusalem 
"  compassed  with  armies  "  —  Titus  and  Vespasian  surround- 
ing it  with  the  Roman  forces  —  "  then  let  them  w^hich  are  in 
Judea  flee  to  the  mountains."  Now  it  is  recorded  by  an 
historian  who  did  not  know  of  these  words,  that  all  the 
Christians  who  were  found  in  the  midst  of  Jerusalem,  during 
a  respite  of  the  besieging  forces,  and  of  the  showers  of  ar- 
rows that  were  hurled  against  them,  escaped  from  one  of 
the  gates  of  the  city,  rushed  to  a  neighboring  village  called 
Pella ;  and  there  they  were  preserved,  not  a  hair  of  their 
hea4s  touched,  during  the  awful  destruction  that  followed  on 


LUKE   XXI.  417 

their  retreat  from  that  devoted  and  ruined  city.  Josephus 
records  that  upwards  of  a  million  of  Jews  were  slaughtered 
in  the  midst  of  Jerusalem ;  Titus  implored  his  soldiers  to 
spare  the  temple ;  he  was  so  struck  with  its  awful  and  un- 
earthly magnificence  that  he  offered  the  richest  rewards  to 
the  chief  captains  of  his  army  if  they  would  prevent  the 
infuriate  soldiers  from  destroying  its  sacred  shrines  and  its 
magnificent  and  august  altars.  Josephus,  himself  a  Jew, 
and  a  soldier  or  captain  of  the  Roman  army,  was  sent  by 
Titus  to  dissuade  the  Romans  from  touching  it,  and  to  per- 
suade the  Jews  if  possible,  to  flee  from  it.  But  such  was 
the  fury  of  the  Roman  soldiery,  owing  to  the  fanatic  and  ex- 
asperated passions  of  the  Jews,  that  one  soldier  rushed  into 
the  holy  place,  cast  into  the  midst  of  its  carved  work  a  burn- 
ing brand  ;  and  in  the  course  of  a  very  few  hours  all  the 
glory  and  magnificence  of  that  temple,  that  was  the  joy  of  a 
Jew's  heart,  and  the  admiration  of  the  earth,  w^as  reduced 
to  ashes,  leaving  scarce  a  wreck  or  a  trace  behind  it.  All 
this  is  recorded  by  Josephus  himself,  a  most  impartial  and 
credible  witness  on  that  subject.  Our  Lord  says,  "They 
shall  fall  by  the  edge  of  the  sword,"  —  that  is,  the  Jews,  — 
"  and  shall  be  led  away  captive  into  all  nations ;  and  Jerusalem' 
shall  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times  of  the 
Gentiles  be  fulfilled."  Then  from  the  24th  verse  to  the 
close  of  the  chapter  is  the  answer ;  not  relating  to  the  down- 
fall of  Jerusalem,  but  relating,  evidently,  to  Christ's  second 
coming. 

It  seems  to  me  that  at  whatever  point  of  the  compass  we 
look,  those  signs  of  the  end  given  by  evangelists  loom  and 
gather  in  the  horizon.  All  men  seem  struck  with  the  pecu- 
liarity, and  the  emphasis  of  the  times  in  which  we  live. 
"There  shall  be  signs  in  the  sun"  —  these  are  not  yet 
come  —  "  and  in  the  moon,  and  in  the  stars."  They  will 
come  literally,  I  believe,  and  they  will  come  morally ;  be- 
cause every  prophecy  in  the  Bible,  you  will  easily  perceive, 


418  SCRIPTUIIE    READINGS. 

has  first  a  physical,  and  then  it  has,  and  cotemporanoously, 
a  moral  fulfilment.  I  have  already  explained,  that  "  a  star 
should  come  out  of  Jacob,"  is  the  prophecy ;  at  the  advent 
of  Christ  there  was  a  literal  star,  or  rather  a  literal  celestial 
sign  like  a  star,  that  went  before  the  shepherds,  and  showed 
them  the  place  where  Christ  lay ;  and  while  the  star  signified 
Christ  morally,  it  stood  over  the  manger  literally.  And 
you  will  find  that  all  the  prophecies  of  the  future  in  the 
Apocalypse  will  be  literally  and  also  morally  fulfilled. 
"  There  will  be  signs  in  the  sun."  Why  should  there  not  ? 
"We  often  think.  How  can  this  be  ?  But  recollect,  the  sun  is 
but  another  world,  bigger  than  our  own,  I  admit ;  his  use  to 
us  —  not  his  absolute,  but  his  relative  use  —  is  to  reflect 
light  to  us.  And  there  may  be  a  miracle  to  suspend  that 
light ;  there  may  be  signs  in  the  sun  before  his  advent,  just 
as  Joseplms  states  there  were  unearthly  signs  in  the  sun, 
and  in  the  moon,  and  in  the  stars,  before  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem.  "  And  there  shall  be  on  earth  distress  of  na- 
tions." Why,  what  is  the  state  of  the  earth  just  now  ?  If 
we  could  look  into  the  hearts  of  statesmen,  if  we  kncM^  all 
that  is  discoursed  and  discussed  in  all  the  European  cabinets 
at  this  time,  I  have  no  doubt  we  should  see  the  beginning 
of  the  distress  of  nations,  and  what  Matthew  calls,  "  men's 
hearts  failing  them  for  fear  of  the  things  that  are  coming 
on  the  earth."  All  Europe  is  at  this  moment  a  smouldering 
volcano  ;  statesmen  are  trying  to  stave  oflP  what  must  come, 
and  will  come;  they  are  patching  up  the  old  machinery, 
putting  in  a  peg  here,  and  adding  a  link  there  —  doing  all 
that  may  keep  the  machinery  a  going  for  a  little  longer :  but 
decreed  it  is  —  I  do  not  say  that  Russia  is  to  take  the  place 
of  Turkey,  and  overwhelm  us  —  but  that  Mahometanism 
will  be  utterly  destroyed.  There  may  rise  and  occupy  its 
place  a  magnificent  Christian  empire  ;  I  think  there  will ; 
composed  of  true  Chi-istians.  We  do  not  want  the  Sultan 
to  be  hanged,  or  to  be  shot ;  but  what  we  want,  and  what  we 


LUKE    XXI.  419 

« 

predict  from  God's  word,  is,  that  Mahometanism,  or  that  of 
which  he  is  the  head,  will  be  gradually  destroyed. 

People  come  and  say,  "  Where  is  your  prophecy  about  the 
downfall  of  Mahometanism  ?  The  Turks  are  showing  that 
they  are  stronger  and  braver  than  you  ever  dreamed."  I 
answer,  Whether  peace  or  war,  Turkey  will  be  destroyed. 
I  do  not  believe  that  Mahometanism  will  be  struck  down  by 
a  blow  ;  the  prophecy  is,  that  it  is  to  be  dried  up  —  gradually 
to  be  evaporated.  And  peace  at  this  moment  would  be 
more  destructive  for  Mahometanism  than  war ;  and  come 
war,  come  peace,  its  exchequer  will  be  bankrupt.  Its  last 
resources  —  its  last  penny  —  are  now  being  expended  in  the 
machinery  of  war ;  and  in  a  very  short  time  you  will  hear 
that  the  Crescent  has  waned,  and  not  the  Russian  autocrat 
necessarily  in  its  place,  but  it  may  be  the  Cross  floating  on 
the  banners  of  a  people  that  glory  in  that  cross,  and  love 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

So  in  the  next  place  we  read,  that  after  this  —  and  this 
shows  that  the  prediction  here  relates  to  the  second  advent 
of  Christ,  — "  men's  hearts  will  be  failing  them  for  fear,  and 
for  looking  after  those  things  which  are  coming  on  the  earth : 
for  the  powers  of  heaven  shall  be  shaken."  And  then  what 
takes  place  ?  Is  it,  "  Then  they  shall  see  "  —  the  Millen- 
nium ?  No.  "  Then  shall  they  see  the  Son  of  man  coming 
in  a  cloud  with  power  and  great  glory."  And,  therefore,  I 
do  not  expect  the  Millennium  before  Christ  comes,  any  more 
than  I  expect  sunshine  before  the  sun  rises.  .  It  is  most  ir- 
rational to  anticipate  sunshine  before  the  sun  has  got  above 
the  horizon,  and  it  seems  to  me  equally  irrational  to  expect 
that  there  will  be  millennial  rest,  and  peace,  and  joy  over 
all  the  earth  before  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  has  arisen 
with  healing  in  his  wings.  In  fact,  we  have  this  text  illus- 
trated very  expressly  when  the  angels  said  to  the  apostles 
in  the  Acts,  "  Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye  gazing  up 
into  heaven  ?  this  same  Jesus,  which  is  taken  up  from  you 


420  soiiirTUiii:  lacAniNns. 

« 
into  heaven,  shall  t^o  coinc  in  like  manner  as  ye  have  seen 

him  go  into  heaven."  How  did  they  see  him  go  ?  It  is  said 
that  "  when  he  had  spoken  these  things  he  was  taken  up  and 
a  cloud  received  him  out  of  their  sight."  Now  then,  just  as 
he  ascended  in  the  cloud,  —  probably  the  shechinah,  the  pil- 
lar of  cloud  that  marched  through  the  desert,  —  so  he  will 
come  in  the  very  same  cloud :  "  in  like  manner  shall  ye  see 
him  come,"  —  that  is,  with  power  and  great  glory.  I  be- 
lieve it  is  doing  utter  violence  to  expect  that  all  the  efforts  of 
Bible  Societies,  all  the  exertions  of  our  noble  Christian  mis- 
sionary institutions,  will  usher  in  the  millennium.  I  sub- 
scribe, and  you  subscribe  to  the  Bible  Society,  and  we  have 
given  rightly.  IMi*.  James  made  a  proposition  to  send  a 
million  New  Testaments  to  the  Chinese  ;  and  I  think  we 
have  sent  from  this  congregation  betwe  en  four  and  five  thou- 
sand without  a  special  collection ;  we  have  received  sufficient, 
I  think,  to  purchase  5,000  Chinese  New  Testaments  ;  and 
therefore,  our  share  in  seizing  the  opening  to  that  gigantic 
empire — an  opening  that  may  evolve  the  Ten  Tribes  of 
Israel,  —  and  helping  to  preach  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ,  is  not  a  very  small  one.  And  the  "  London 
Missionary  Society  "  has  come  forward  in  a  very  noble  man- 
ner, —  and  if  any  of  you  can  aid  it,  do  so  by  all  means,  — 
and  has  resolved  to  send  ten  missionaries  to  that  1  and ;  to 
seize  an  opening  wherever  they  can  find  it,  and  to  guide 
aright  the  religious  impressions  of  the  Chinese.  I  would 
support  all  these  institutions,  and  supjDort  them  munificently  ; 
but  I  do  not  believe  that  they  are  to  end  in  the  millennium 
—  I  do  not  believe  that  they  will  contribute  one  whit  to  it. 
The  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  till  Christ  come,  is  bringing  a 
people  out  of  the  world  for  Christ,  an  election  according  to 
grace ;  —  and  when  all  Christ's  people  have  been  gathered 
to  himself —  when  all  that  is  vital  and  living  has  been  sep- 
arated out  of  the  mass,  then  the  Lord  shall  come  in  the 
clouds  of  hea\'en,  with  power  and  great  glory.     But,  be- 


LUKE    XXI.  421 

cause  I  believe  tliat  our  missionary  societies  are  not  to  has- 
ten or  to  constitute  a  millennium,  it  does  not  follow  that  I 
am  not  to  help  them.  On  the  contrary,  beheving  that  souls 
are  perishing,  and  that,  humanly  speaking,  it  depends  upon 
our  vigor  and  our  effort  Avhether  the  unconverted  shall  per- 
ish, whether  souls  shall  be  lost  or  saved,  I  help  these  mis- 
sionary institutions,  in  order  to  promote  the  salvation  of 
eternal  souls ;  and  the  nearer  that  the  night  comes,  the  bu- 
sier we  should  be ;  the  closer  that  we  are  to  the  coming  of 
Christ,  the  more  munificent  should  our  contributions  be. 
Well  then,  our  Lord  says  to  them,  "  When  these  things 
begin  to  come  to  pass,  then  look  up,"  —  instead  of  Christians 
being  afraid,  —  "  lift  up  your  heads,  for  your  redemption 
draweth  nigh."  He  then  gives  them  a  parable  of  the  fig- 
tree.  You  will  recollect,  that  the  fig-tree  is  constantly  used 
in  the  Gospels  as  the  great  symbol  and  representative  of 
Jud^a,  and  of  the  children  of  Israel.  The  sign,  therefore, 
the  strongest  and  most  prominent  sign  of  the  nearness  of 
the  advent  of  Christ,  and  the  coming  of  all  these  things 
upon  the  earth,  will  be  the  budding  of  the  fig-tree.  When 
it  begins  to  bud,  then,  says  the  Saviour,  the  millennium  is  at 
hand.  Now  at  this  moment,  I  believe,  the  fig-tree  is  bud- 
ding ;  at  this  moment,  the  Jews  are  startling,  by  their  na- 
tionality, wide  Christendom,  occupying  a  place,  making  an 
impression  unprecedented  since  they  were  scattered  into  all 
nations,  and  became  a  byword  and  a  scoff  amid  all  mankind. 
And  so  certain  is  this,  he  says,  "  This  generation  shall  not 
pass  away,  till  all  be  fulfilled."  I  explained  to  you  the 
meaning  of  this  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew.  Some  com- 
mentators, most  commentators,  I  believe,  argue  that  all  that 
precedes  this  3  2d  verse  must  relate  to  Jerusalem,  and  cannot 
relate  to  the  second  coming  of  Christ ;  because  it  says,  "  This 
generation  shall  not  pass  away,  till  all  be  fulfilled."  Now  the 
very  first  reply  to  that  would  be,  Did  the  Son  of  man  come  in 
the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great  glory  before  Jeru- 

36 


422  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

salem  fell?  No  giicli  thing,  nor  any  thing  approaching  to  it. 
But  then,  when  we  look  at  the  meaning  of  the  original  words, 
we  see  at  once  the  idea.  The  Greek  word  for  "  generation  " 
is  yevea.  I  venture  to  assert  that  the  interpretation  of  many 
commentators  is  most  unwarranted  and  most  unfounded  ; 
-yevea,  they  suppose  to  mean  a  generation  of  thirty  years ; 
and  they  say,  This  generation — the  men  living  now  — 
shall  not  be  defunct  till  all  these  things  come  to  pass.  But 
we  reply,  that  it  has  only  been  since  Insurance  Offices  and 
the  statistics  of  life,  or  what  are  called  "  vital  statistics," 
w^ere  established,  that  the  idea  of  thirty  years  being  a  gen- 
eration lias  been  dreamed  of;  and  wdien  w^e  open  Greek 
wa-iters,  we  find  that  the  word  means  almost  invariably  a 
race,  a  jDCople ;  the  yevea,  or  race  of  the  Greeks  ;  the  yevea, 
or  race  of  the  Romans,  or  of  the  Saxon  ;  meaning  the  world. 
And  when  our  Lord  says,  "  This  generation  shall  not  pass 
away,"  the  meaning  is,  this  race :  this  race  shall  be  scat- 
tered and  persecuted,  —  wanderers  and  exiles,  and  suffer  in 
every  shape  among  all  nations  till  Christ  come.  He  says, 
*'  Woe,  ye  generation  of  vipers,"  meaning  a  race,  a  people. 
Homer  speaks  again  of  the  race  of  men  being  as  yevea  ovXluv 
■ —  "  the  race  of  leaves." 

And  now  this  prophecy  is  literally  fulfilled ;  the  race  still 
lives.  Go  to  Hounsditch,  and  you  will  find  them  in  thou- 
sands ;  go  to  the  west  end,  and  you  will  find  them  in  tens ; 
go  into  any  country  upon  earth,  and  you  will  find  a  Jew, 
breathing  every  air,  drinking  of  every  stream ;  lending 
money  to  poor  nations  ;  having  all  their  money  not  in  lands 
like  our  English  noblemen,  not  in  fixtures,  but  loose,  so  that 
they  can  put  it  in  their  pocket,  or  carry  it  in  the  shape  of  a 
bill  of  exchange,  any  day  it  may  please  them.  Now  how  is 
it  that  they  are  nearly  the  only  race  preserved  in  that  way  ? 
The  Greeks  are  a  mere  fragment  of  wdiat  they  once  were  ; 
there  are  more  Romans  this  day  in  England  than  there  are 
in  Italy  ;  nearly  every  other  race,  as  far  as  its  nationality  is 


LUKE    XXI.  423 

concerned,  lias  become  mixed  and  incorporated  with  the 
masses  of  mankind.  But  the  Jew  is  insulated,  sejiarate. 
The  ancient  prophecy  is,  "  They  shall  not  be  numbered  with 
the  nations  ;  "  and  they  are  not  at  this  day.  Now,  why  thus 
preserved,  why  thus  distinct,  insulated,  and  peculiar  ?  Not 
because  their  condition  is  an  honorable  one,  or  their  supe- 
riority to  material  comfort  cheeVfully  accepted,  for  they  are 
a  scoff  and  a  byword  —  "  Avaricious  as  a  Jew,"  has  become 
a  proverb ;  he  is  not  respected  as  a  Jew  in  any  part  of  the 
earth.  His  very  name  is  the  synonym  of  avarice.  Then, 
why  this  distinct  nationality  ?  and  why  is  their  property  not 
as  ours  is,  a  fixture,  but  floating,  ready  to  be  laid  hold  of,  and 
turned  into  currency,  and  carried  with  them  the  instant  that 
they  want  it  ?  The  answer  is,  that  they  are  reserved  for  a 
grand  destiny  ;  and  some  morning  you  will  wake,  and  find 
in  the  Times  newspaper,  that  the  Jews  are  off  to  Jerusalem, 
like  doves  to  their  windows,  settled  in  their  own  land,  to  praise 
Christ  whom  their  fathers  crucified. 

Those  very  wars  that  now  agitate  the  earth  are  preparing 
the  w^ay  of  this  mysterious  race.  Every  year  brings  out 
some  new  feature,  some  striking  fact  in  their  national  history. 
They  are  cast  down,  but  not  cast  off.  They  are  the  men  of 
destiny  —  the  subjects  of  many  prophecies  —  the  objects  of 
the  special  notice  of  the  Most  High.  The  fig-tree  blasted 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  begins  to  bud,  and  the  anxious 
and  waiting  students  of  prophecy  are  patiently  and  prayer- 
fully waiting  for  another  and  yet  more  glorious  Exodus. 


Note. —  [22.]  EKdtK.  —  a  liint  pcrlmps  at  chap,  xviii.  8.  The  latter 
part  of  the  verse  alludes  probably  to  the  prophecy  of  Daniel,  which 
Luke  omitted,  but  referred  to  in  ?)  Epr/ij.o)atg  avrjjg^  ver.  20.  [23.]  evr.  r. 
y.y  general ;  tcj  A.  tovtu,  particular.  The  distress  on  all  the  earth  is 
not  so  distinctly  the  result  of  the  Divine  ani2:er,  as  that  Avhich  shall 
befall  this  nation.     [24].  A  most  important  addition,  serving  to  fix  the 


424  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

meaning  of  the  other  two  evangelists,  and  carrying  on  the  prophetic 
announcement ;  past  our  own  times,  even  close  to  the  days  of  the  end. 
The  Kaip.  i&v.,  or  times  of  the  Gentiles,  are  the  end  of  the  Gentile 
dispensation ;  the  rejection  of  the  Lord  by  the  Gentile  Avorld,  answer- 
ing to  its  type,  his  rejection  by  the  Jews,  being  finished,  the  Kaipbg  shall 
come,  of  which  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  was  a  type.  —  Alford. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

CHRISTMAS  DAT PROBABLE  BATE  OF — THE  PASSOVER  —  THE  UP- 
PER ROOM THE  SUPPER MEANING  OF  WORDS TITLES PE- 
TER'S   TRIAL   AND    CHRISt's    PRAYER — SWORD    FOR    DEFENCE 

GETHSEMANE MENTAL   EMOTION  —  SLEEPING SORROW. 

How  striking  and  remarkable  is  the  contrast  between  the 
second  chapter  of  the  Gospel  of  Luke,  recording  the  birth, 
the  lowly  birth,  though  with  attendant  and  sublime  accom- 
paniments, of  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  striking,  we  had 
almost  said  the  awful,  chapter  which  we  have  just  read ! 
In  the  first,  we  saw  the  babe  born  in  Bethlehem,  with  all  the 
helplessness  of  infant  humanity  ;  in  this,  we  have  the  sufferer 
in  the  midst  of  his  agony  in  Gethsemane ;  the  former  only 
the  preparation  for  the  latter,  both  setting  forth  One  who 
was  born  not  for  himself,  who  lived  not  for  himself,  who 
suffered  not  for  himself,  and  died  not  for  himself.  What  we 
call  Christmas  day  all  Christendom  regards  as  the  anniver- 
sary of  the  birth  of  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem,  the  Son  of  God, 
the  Saviour  of  sinners.  I  need  scarcely  tell  those  who  have 
looked  into  this  question  as  a  matter  of  chronology,  that 
Christmas  day  is  not  really  the  anniversary  of  the  birth  of 
Christ ;  it  is  demonstrably  proved  that  Christ  was  born  in 
April,  and  not  in  December.  The  anniversaries  of  his  birth 
and  his  agony  are  near  to  each  other  —  April  and  Good- 
Friday  being  far  nearer  than  what  we  call  Christmas  and 
Good-Friday  now.  But  while  it  has  been  proved  in  the 
most  conclusive  manner,  I  think,  that  the  birth  of  our  Lord 
30  *  (425) 


426  scRirxuRE  readings. 

was  in  April,  yet  it  is  of  no  moral  and  spiritual  importance. 
Christmas  day  is  a  human  institution,  indeed  originally  a 
Romish  one :  I  doubt  if  the  primitive  Church  regarded  it. 
Easter  Sunday  Avas  noticed,  and  venerated,  and  observed 
from  the  very  earliest  times ;  Good-Friday  very  soon  after 
was  in  all  probability  celebrated ;  but  Christmas  was  a  later 
introduction.  And  indeed,  the  name  it  bears  with  us  is  a 
name  one  is  sorry  for  —  Christmas,  Christ's  mass.  We  have 
no  mass  now.  An  article  in  the  Church  of  England  Prayer- 
book  very  justly,  and  not  more  strongly  than  it  demands, 
says,  "The  mass  is  a  blasphemous  fable  and  a  dangerous 
deceit ;  "  and  we  have  no  mass,  therefore,  now  ;  and  though 
the  name  be  retained,  yet  it  does  not  convey  to  us  the  mean- 
ing associated  with  it  in  Romish  superstition.  But  neither 
Good-Friday  nor  Christmas  day  are  of  divine  obligation ; 
though  at  the  same  time  I  see  nothing  but  propriety  in  the 
observance  of  them.  I  do  not  like  saints'  days  ;  I  do  not  see 
the  use  of  consecrating  days  to  the  memory  of  saints,  how- 
ever excellent ;  but  I  do  see  great  practical  utility,  and  no 
infraction  of  divine  commandment,  in  observing  those  days 
that  bring  clearly  before  us  the  death  of  Christ,  as  Good- 
Friday  ;  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  as  Easter  Sunday ;  and 
the  ascension  of  Christ,  and  the  giving  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
All  these  are  days  and  hours  associated  with  the  very 
essence,  with  the  very  substance  of  our  redemption ;  and 
the  commemoration  of  great  truths,  and  the  calling  of  the 
people's  attention  to  such  truths  on  such  days,  must  be  pro- 
ductive of  good,  and  cannot  necessarily  be  productive  of 
harm. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  the  sufferings  and  the  agony  of 
the  Son  of  man,  the  Saviour  of  sinners.  We  read,  that 
"  Satan  entered  into  Judas  surnamed  Iscariot,  being  of  the 
number  of  the  twelve."  Every  clause  seems  to  have  em- 
phasis. Let  us  read  that  verse  —  "Then  entered  Satan 
into  Judas,  being  of  the  number  of  the  twelve."     What  an 


LUKE  XXII.  427 

expressive  and  suggestive  clause  is  that  single  one  —  "  Be- 
ing of  the  number  of  the  twelve  !  "  Satan  entered  into  Par- 
adise ;  he  entered  into  the  college  of  apostles,  he  corrupted 
one  apostle  to  betray,  another  to  deny :  — "  Let  him  that 
thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall." 

Our  Lord  then  directed  Peter  and  John  to  go  and  pre- 
pare the  Passover  —  the  last  Passover  that  he  should  cele- 
brate on  earth,  and  the  last  Passover  that  should  be  legiti- 
mately celebrated  by  any.  He  was  now  to  merge  the  Pass- 
over lamb  in  the  true  Sacrifice,  and  the  Passover  feast  in 
the  Lord's  Supper,  —  the  more  simple  commemorative  rite 
of  the  Christian  Church.  He  then  tells  them  that  when 
they  had  entered  into  the  city  they  should  meet  a  man  — 
that  is,  a  slave  —  with  a  pitcher  of  water.  The  evening 
was  the  time  for  drawing  water,  and  this  would  indicate  that 
it  was  eventide.  Follow  this  slave,  the  water  carrier,  and 
he  will  take  you  to  his  master ;  and  say  to  the  master  of 
the  house,  "  The  Master  saith  unto  thee.  Where  is  the  guest- 
chamber,  Avhere  I  shall  eat  the  passover  with  my  disciples  ?  " 
And  with  prophetic  accuracy  he  tells  them,  "  And  he  shall 
show  you  a  large  upper  room  furnished :  there  make  ready." 
It  has  been  often  noticed  that  the  apostles  met  in  an  upper 
room  —  and  that  the  Lord's  Supper  was  celebrated  in  an 
upper  room  :  it  has  been  thought  that  this  was  a  very  lowly, 
humble,  and  mean  place ;  but  the  truth  is,  the  upper  room 
was  the  best  room  in  the  house  ;  and  it  does  not,  therefore, 
mean  the  same  as  our  word  "  garret,"  the  topmost  floor  of 
the  house ;  but  really  the  chiefest  and  the  best  chamber  in 
the  whole  house. 

"  And  when  the  hour  was  come,  he  sat  down,  and  the 
twelve  disciples  with  him."  He  tells  them,  "  With  desire  I 
have  desired"  —  that  is,  I  have  earnestly  desired  —  "to  eat 
this  passover  with  you  before  I  suffer  :  for  I  say  unto  you,  I 
will  not  any  more  eat  thereof,"  —  that  is,  I  will  never  eat 
of  it  again  —  "  till  it  be  fulfilled  in  the  kingdom  of  God  "  — 


428  SCniPTUKE     liKAUIXCS. 

that  is,  in  the  Christian  economy,  by  the  more  beautiful  rite, 
which  we  now  celebrate  to  commemorate  that  death.  He 
then  "  took  bread,  and  gave  thanks,  and  brake  it,  saying, 
This  is  my  body  wliich  is  given  for  you  ;  this  do  in  remem- 
brance of  me."  The  words,  as  I  mentioned  in  a  previous 
Gospel,  "  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me,"  must  necessarily 
imply  that  Christ  could  not  be  bodily  present.  Memory 
refers  to  the  absent ;  consciousness,  sense,  and  sight  relate 
to  the  present.  If,  therefore,  we  celebrate  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per in  remembrance  of  Christ,  it  is  evident  that  Transub- 
stantiation  is  not  true,  that  the  bread  is  not  turned  into  flesh, 
that  the  wine  is  not  turned  into  blood,  that  Christ  is  not 
bodily  present.  For  how  can  we  remember  a  present  be- 
ing ?  We  can  only  remember  one  who  was,  or  one  who  is 
absent.  As  long,  therefore,  as  these  words,  "  Do  this  in  re- 
membrance of  me,"  are  retained,  so  long  there  is  a  protest 
in  the  very  bosom  of  the  institution  against  the  monstrous 
dogma  of  Transubstantiation.  Besides,  the  words  are  very 
remarkable  —  "Do  this."  If  Christ  had  meant  that  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  to  be  an  atoning  sacrifice,  then  he  would 
have  said,  "  Do  or  offer  this  as  a  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of 
the  living  and  the  dead."  In  the  Creed  of  Pius  IV.  and 
in  the  Canons  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  it  is  said,  that  the 
Mass,  or  the  Lord's  Supper,  is  a  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the 
living  and  the  dead.  Well,  then,  if  that  be  its  meaning, 
Jesus  would  have  said,  "  Do  this  as  a  sacrifice  for  the  sins 
of  the  living  and  the  dead."  But  it  is  all  the  reverse  ;  it  is, 
"  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me."  And  what  a  striking 
proof  too  in  that  very  reference  to  that  institution  upon 
which  it  was  grafted !  In  the  ancient  Passover  there  were 
two  parts ;  there  was  the  sacrificial  part,  when  the  lamb  was 
slain  and  its  blood  shed  as  the  deliverance  and  safety  of 
Israel ;  then  there  was  the  festal  part,  when  the  people  met, 
and  ate  the  flesh  that  had  been  roasted,  with  unleavened 
bread  and  bitter  herbs.     So  now  we  have  the  two  parts ; 


LUKE   XXII.  429 

only  Christ  our  Passover  was  sacrificed  for  us  eighteen 
hundred  years  ago,  and  the  virtue  of  his  sacrifice  lasts  for 
ever;  and  wlien  we  surround  the  communion  table  we  take 
the  festal  part,  or  the  feast  that  follows  the  sacrifice,  com- 
memorative of  the  sacrifice  once  made  and  concluded  for  us. 

He  then  took  the  cup  and  said,  "  This  cup  is  the  new  tes- 
tament in  my  blood,  which  was  shed  for  you.  But,  behold," 
he  said,  "  the  hand  of  him  that  betrayeth  me  is  with  me  on 
the  table."  What  a  striking  announcement !  And  what  an 
awful  expression  is  that,  "  Woe  unto  that  man  by  whom  the 
Son  of  man  is  betrayed !  "  or,  as  in  a  parallel  Gospel,  "  It 
had  been  better  for  that  man  that  he  had  never  been  born." 
Now,  what  must  be  the  bitter  agony  of  that  man  of  whom  it 
may  be  said  with  justice,  "  It  would  be  better  for  him  had 
he  never  been  born  !  "  It  indicates  a  terrible  penalty  as  the 
retribution  for  so  terrible  a  crime.  And  how  very  sad,  too, 
that  at  that  solemn  moment  the  apostles  should  be  raising  a 
strife  among  themselves  as  to  which  should  be  greatest ! 
How  awful,  that  when  Jesus  was  celebrating  by  anticipation 
his  agony,  and  when  he  announced  the  awful  statement,  that 
one  apostle  should  betray  him,  the  poor  apostles,  instead  of 
being  solemnized,  and  awed,  should  be  quarrelling  with  each 
other  which  of  them  should  be  the  greatest !  And  yet  is  it 
one  whit  worse  than  what  takes  place  amongst  Christian 
denominations  at  the  present  day,  who  quarrel  with  each 
other  which  shall  be  the  greatest  when  souls  are  rushing  to 
the  judgment-seat,  and  vast  masses  of  mankind  know  not  if 
there  be  a  God,  a  Saviour,  a  heaven,  or  a  hell  ? 

He  then  rebuked  them  very  gently,  but  very  justly :  "  The 
kings  of  the  Gentiles  exercise  lordship  over  them;  and 
they  that  exercise  authority  upon  them  are  called  benefac- 
tors." That  is  a  very  perplexing  text ;  but  it  will  be  ex- 
plained to  you  by  the  fact  that  the  Greek  word  evepysTTjc, 
which  means  a  benefactor,  was  applied  to  ancient  princes 
much  in  the  same  way  as  "  Her  Majesty  "  is  applied  to  our 


430  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

queen,  or  "  His  Grace  "  applied  to  a  duke,  or  "  Lord  "  ap- 
plied to  a  nobleman.  Now  our  Lord  says.  Princes  in  this 
world  according  to  usage  are  called  benefactors  —  they  that 
exercise  authority  —  but  it  should  not  be  so  among  you. 
You  must  feel  yourselves  in  the  Christian  economy  on  one 
great  level,  each  henefacting  the  other,  without  assuming 
superiority  one  over  the  other.  It  is  very  interesting  that 
most  of  the  words  which  we  apply  to  rank,  originally  meant 
goodness.  For  instance,  "  lord  "  or  "  lady  "  means  a  person 
that  gives  away  bread  —  a  bread  distributor ;  that  is  the 
meaning  of  it :  so  all  titles  of  dignity  and  rank  were  origi- 
nally significant  of  benevolence  and  goodness,  though  they 
have  now  come  to  be  mere  empty  sounds,  or  sounds  only  of 
dignity  and  greatness.  They,  however,  act  worthy  of  their 
rank  who  make  that  rank  most  useful  and  beneficent  to 
mankind. 

He  then  tells  them  that  he  has  appointed  unto  them  a 
kingdom  ;  that  they  shall  sit  on  thrones,  judging  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel,  when  he  shall  come  in  his  kingdom  and  his 
glory,  and  all  nations  shall  be  gathered  before  him.  He 
then  addresses  Simon  apart :  he  did  not  address  Judas,  he 
seems  to  have  been  a  hopeless  reprobate  :  but  he  did  address 
Peter ;  for  though  Peter  Avould  sin  grievously,  fall  deeply, 
he  was  not  to  sin  finally  and  fall  for  ever.  He  therefore 
says,  "  Simon,  Simon,  behold,  Satan  hath  desired  to  have 
you,  that  he  may  sift  you  as  wheat,"  —  that  is,  you  will  go 
through  a  process  of  temptation  and  of  bitter  trial  as  if  you 
were  sifted,  —  every  part  of  you,  as  it  were,  sifted,  —  and 
yourself  laid  open  to  yourself  to  an  extent  that  you  do  not 
now  anticipate.  "  But "  —  liov/  interesting  is  that  —  "  while 
Satan  hath  desired  to  have  you,  that  he  may  sift  you  as 
wheat,  I  have  prayed  for  thee."  "  I  have  prayed  for  thee  ; " 
—  Christ's  intercession  precedes,  in  the  case  of  a  believer, 
Satan's  assault.  Our  safety  is  not  tliat  Christ  prays  for  us 
after  Satan  assaults  us  ;  but  that  his  intercession  in  heaven 


LUKE   XXII.  431 

precedes  our  temptation  upon  earth.  And  how  beautiful  it 
is  too  that  this  is  personal !  He  spoke  to  Simon  individu- 
ally ;  and  ^vhat  was  true  of  him  as  an  individual  is  true  of 
all  real  believers  to  the  end  ;  —  "  that  thy  faith  fail  not." 
You  say,  Did  not  Simon's  faith  fail  when  he  denied  him  ? 
The  Greek  word  here  means  more  than  "  foil "  —  "  that  thy 
faith  do  not  finally  and  for  ever  and  totally  forsake  thee." 
That  is  the  meaning  of  it ;  and  therefore,  though  Simon's 
faith  foiled  him  in  the  hour  that  he  denied  his  Lord,  yet 
it  was  the  weakness  of  the  flesh,  it  was  not  the  deliberate 
purpose  and  resolution  of  the  man. 

Then  Peter  said,  rashly  enough  —  just  like  him  on  all  oc- 
casions, — "  Lord,  I  am  ready  to  go  with  thee,  both  into 
prison,  and  to  death."  He  was  ever  prepared  to  go  with 
him ;  and  he  spoke  truly  what  he  felt ;  but  Peter  was  one 
of  those  enthusiastic,  Avarm  individuals,  who  do  not  calcu- 
late the  cost  before  they  begin  to  expend  what  they  have, 
or  who  build  without  thinking  of  the  foundation.  He  was 
first  to  protest,  first  to  deny ;  what  was  uppermost  in  his 
mind  he  gave  ready  and  often  thoughtless  expression  to ; 
till  by  grace  he  came  forth  a  changed  character  after  the 
day  of  Pentecost.  And  it  is  a  very  remarkable  fact,  if  you 
will  read  Peter's  discourses  in  the  Acts,  or  Peter's  Epistles, 
you  will  find  language  relating  to  his  own  sin,  and  Christ's 
words  about  it,  constantly  repeated ;  and  when  he  wants  to 
state  in  his  sermons  the  greatest  sin  that  man  can  be  guilty 
of,  he  says,  "  Ye  denied  the  Holy  One  and  the  Just ; "  as  if 
the  thoughts  of  his  own  great  transgression  were  constantly 
in  his  mind,  and,  in  the  language  of  David,  "  his  sin  was  ever 
before  him."  Then  Jesus  says  to  Peter,  "  I  tell  thee,  Peter, 
the  cock  shall  not  crow  this  day,  before  that  thou  shalt  thrice 
deny  that  thou  knowest  me,"  —  so  little  are  your  words  to 
be  depended  upon.  "  And  he  said  unto  them.  When  I  sent 
you  without  purse,  and  scrip,  and  shoes,  lacked  ye  any  thing  ? 
And  they  said.  Nothing.     Then  said  he   unto  them,  But 


432  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

now,  he  that  hath  a  purse,  let  him  take  it,  and  likewise  his 
scrip :  and  he  that  hath  no  sword,  let  him  sell  his  garment, 
and  buy  one."  Now  I  cannot  put  any  figurative  interpreta- 
tion upon  that ;  I  believe  it  was  literal  —  "  Let  the  apostle 
that  hath  not  a  sword  get  one."  But  get  a  sword  for  what  ? 
Not  for  aggression,  but  for  defence.  It  seems,  therefore,  as 
if  Jesus  sanctioned  the  use  of  defensive  weapons  in  a  coun- 
try and  in  an  age  where  such  weapons  of  defence  were 
essential  for  a  single  day's  safety.  And  at  this  day  if  you 
were  to  travel  in  the  East,  amidst  the  hordes  of  Ai-ab  ban- 
ditti, or  where  there  are  Ishmaelites,  whose  hand  is  against 
every  man,  it  would  be  your  duty  to  take  a  sword  or  some 
weapon  of  defence.  And,  therefore,  I  think  the  opinion  of 
the  Friends  is  untenable  —  that  in  no  circumstances  are 
weapons  of  defence  or  offence  legitimate  to  a  Christian. 
However,  the  apostles  plainly  misunderstood  it;  and  they 
said,  We  do  not  want  to  take  a  sword,  — '"  behold,  here  are 
two  swords  ; "  as  if  he  meant  that  they  were  to  use  them, 
and  strike  his  enemies.  Now  the  answer  of  Jesus  is  very 
often  misinterpreted.  "And  he  said  unto  them.  It  is 
enough."  Now  some  think  that  that  means,  "  Well,  two 
swords  are  plenty  —  these  will  be  quite  sufficient,  you  do 
not  want  more."  But  that  is  not  the  meaning.  If  it  had 
been,  he  would  not  have  said,  'luavdv  eori,  "It  is  enough ; " 
but,  They  are  enough,  —  referring  to  the  swords  that  he 
had  spoken  of  But  instead  of  that,  he  says,  "  It  is  enougli ; " 
and  the  literal  meaning  is,  "  I  do  not  want  two  swords,  we 
have  plenty  without  these  ;  we  are  armed  enough.  This  is  not 
the  time  or  the  place  to  use  swords ;  we  have  other  weapons, 
other  defence  —  great  purposes  to  be  fulfilled,  great  duties 
to  transact  —  we  do  not  need  the  swords." 

After  this  "  he  came  out,  and  went,  as  he  was  wont,  to  the 
mount  of  Olives ;  and  his  disciples  also  followed  him  ;  and 
when  he  was  at  the  place,  he  said  unto  them.  Pray  that  ye 
enter  not  into  temptation."     Now  occurs  that  subUme  and 


LUKE   XXII.  433. 

awful  scene  in  the  garden  of  Gctlisemane,  where  he  seems  to 
have  realized  in  a  moment  all  his  bloody  sweat,  his  coming 
passion,  his  agony,  his  tears,  as  he  said,  "  Father,  if  thou  be 
Avilling,  remove  this  cup  from  mc :  nevertheless  not  my  will, 
but  thine,  be  done."  That  is  a  precedent  for  us.  If  any 
one  fears  a  coming  trial,  or  a  probable  loss,  or  bereavement, 
or  bitter  sorrow,  he  may  pray,  "  Remove  this  cup  far  from  * 
me."  It  is  human  to  do  so,  it  is  Christian  to  do  so ;  but 
tliere  should  always  be  added,  "  jSTevertheless,  if  thou,  who 
knoAvest  best,  scest  it  not  to  be  expedient  for  me,  then,  not 
my  will,  but  thine,  be  done." 

And  what  an  awful  expression  —  "  His  sweat  was  as  it 
were  great  drops  of  blood  ! "  It  does  not  mean  it  was  so  ; 
but  as  if  it  were.  And  it  is  very  remarkable,  that  intense 
agony  has  been  followed  by  extravasation  of  vital  blood  from 
the  system  as  is  here  spoken  of,  in  other  cases  than  that  of 
our  blessed  Lord.  And  what  a  strange  power  must  the 
mind  have  over  the  body,  when  that  body  thus  responds  to 
the  pressure  of  mental  emotion  !  So  constituted  are  Ave  that 
there  is  in  the  human  mind  that  mighty  susceptibility  of 
impression  that  a  mental  stroke  can  be  foUoAved  and  has 
been  folloAved  by  corporeal  death.  Now,  does  not  that  show 
that  the  soul  is  separate  from  the  body,  and  spiritual  ?  How 
is  it  that  a  postman's  knock  has  made  a  person  faint,  and 
fall  doAvn  upon  the  earth  ?  IIoav  is  it  that  a  mere  simple 
thought  can  have  such  an  effect  upon  the  body  ?  It  proves 
that,  Avhile  the  soul  is  separate  irom  the  body,  it  is  of  other 
substance.  And  as  moral  things  atfect  only  a  moral,  or  a 
mental,  or  a  spiritual  poAver,  and  through  that  power  affect 
the  body,  so  miasmas  and  physical  poisons  affect  the  body, 
and  through  the  body  affect  the  mind.  If  taking  a  physical 
poison,  and  thereby  injuring  the  body,  proves  that  its  medium 
of  action,  the  body,  is  material;  taking  a  dose  of  moral 
poison  —  if  I  may  use  the  word  —  affecting  the  mmd,  thereby 
37 


434  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

proves  that  the  mind  is  immaterial  and  separate  from  the 
body. 

How  expressive  is  that  fact,  that  he  found  them  sleeping 
for  sorrow  !  How  true  is  that  to  nature,  that  the  deepest 
and  the  greatest  sorrow,  the  sorrow  that  cannot  find  tears, 
blessed  be  God !  often  finds  sleep  ;  as  if  God  had  provided 
'compensatory  powers  in  the  human  economy  to  prevent  its 
utter  destruction  by  excess  of  joy  or  excess  of  sorrow. 


Note.  —  The  sudden  address  to  Simon  may  perhaps  have  been 
occasioned  by  some  remark  of  liis,  or,  Avhich  I  think  more  probable, 
may  have  been  made  after  a  shght  pause,  in  consequence  of  some 
part  taken  by  him  in  the  preceding  strife  for  precedence.  Such  sud- 
den and  earnest  addresses  spring  forth  from  deep  love  and  concern 
awakened  for  another,  [s^'jrf/.]  Not  only  "  hath  desired  to  have  you," 
(E.  V.)  but  " hath  obtained  you;"  his  desire  is  granted,  vfidg,  all. 
This  must  include  Judas,  though  it  does  not  follow  that  he  was  pres- 
ent. The  sifting  sepai-ated  the  chaff  from  the  wheat,  which  chaff  he 
was.  See  Amos  ix.  9-32.  ejd  6s  16.  tt.  gov.  As  Peter  was  the  fore- 
most (the  rest  are  here  addressed  through  him),  so  he  was  in  the 
greatest  danger.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  Lord's  prayer  was 
not  heard,  because  Peter's  faith  did  fail  in  his  denial ;  tKAEiTrrt  implies 
a  total  extinction,  which  Peter's  faith  did  not  suffer.  Though  the  vjia^ 
included  Judas,  he  is  not  included  in  the  prayer.  See  John  xvii.  6-12. 
We  may  notice  here,  that  the  Lord  speaks  of  the  total  failure  of  even 
an  apostle's  faith  as  possible.  \k.KiGTpi\pag.\  There  can,  I  think,  be  lit- 
tle doubt  that  this  word  is  here  used  in  the  general  New  Testament 
sense  of  returning  as  a  penitent  after  sin  —  turning  to  God  —  and  not 
in  the  almost  expletive  meaning  which  it  has  in  such  passages  as  Ps. 
Ixxxiv.  6,  6  Geof,  cv  ImaTpeipag  ^(ouaei^  VH'^C  (although  even  here  it 
may  have  a  somewhat  similar  sense  to  the  above.  See  Acts  vii.  42). 
[oTTipi^ov.]  The  use  of  this  word  thrice  by  Peter  in  his  two  Epistles, 
and  in  the  first  passage  in  connection  with  the  mention  of  Satan's 
temptations,  is  remarkable.  —  Alford. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Pilate's  keluctance  to  crucify  jesus  —  his  sending  him  to 

HEKOD  HEKOd'S     MOCKERY  PILATe's     VACILLATION  THE 

CRUELTY     AND     FURY   OF     THE     MOB — JESUS     GIVEN     UP  —  THE 
WEEPING    RETINUE  —  CHRIST     CRUCIFIED  —  DARKNESS   AT   NOON 

THE     RENT     VAIL — THE      CHAPTER    A    TRANSCRIPT    FROM    AN 

ORIGINAL. 

There  are  in  the  chapter  I  have  read,  three  very  strik- 
ing and  impressive  portraits.  I  do  not  know  one  more 
strange,  or  significant,  or  instructive,  than  that  of  Pilate  ; 
and  I  do  not  know  one,  on  the  other  hand,  more  impressive 
to  us  than  the  picture  sketched  of  the  two  criminals  —  the 
one  a  believer,  and  the  other  an  unbeliever  ;  and  the  last 
and  most  awful  of  all,  is  that  of  the  infuriated  crowd,  who 
forgot  every  lesson  they  had  learned,  trampled  upon  every 
miracle  they  had  seen,  and  shouted,  "  Not  this  man  "  —  the 
Lord  of  glory  —  "  but  release  Barabbas,"  a  thief  and  a  rob- 
ber, in  his  stead. 

There  is  a  portrait  given  of  Pilate,  and  a  very  remark- 
able one  it  is.  He  was  a  king,  but  a  king  without  the  maj- 
esty, the  dignity,  and  the  authority  that  should  belong  to  a 
royal  character.  He  was  in  all  respects  a  citizen  king  — 
the  puppet  of  the  mob — anxious  to  conciliate  their  smiles, 
afraid  lest  he  should  provoke  their  hate ;  his  own  conscience 
telling  him  that  Jesus  was  a  holy  and  an  innocent  man  ;  his 
crown  and  his  throne  in  jeopardy,  as  he  thought,  because 
of  the  bigoted  violence  of  the  mob,  and  the  malignant  hatred 

(435) 


436  SCRIPTUliE    READINGS. 

of  the  Pharisees,  the  scribes  and  the  priests,  making  him,  on 
the  other  hand,  hesitate  to  do  what  his  conscience  told  him 
was  right.  We  have  an  instance  here  of  a  vaciUating  ruler, 
that  had  lost  his  sceptre,  and  without  the  respect  that  was 
due  to  him  ;  and  we  have  an  instance,  too,  of  democracy  m 
its  worst  and  most  terrible  shape,  where  it  treads  down  all 
beauty,  truth,  and  justice  beneath  its  iron  hoof,  and  claims 
the  canonization  of  a  thief,  and  the  crucifixion  of  the  Lord 
of  glory  !  There  is  no  government  —  monarchy,  aristoc- 
racy, or  democracy,  or  republic  —  that  is  perfect ;  all  have 
great  truths  and  excellences  ;  all  have  the  elements  of  evil 
also  in  them ;  we  accept  them  as  approximations  to  what 
should  be,  and  wait  for  that  blessed  day  when  a  King  shall 
reign  in  justice,  and  a  people,  his  subjects,  shall  do  right- 
eously. 

First  of  all,  when  the  multitude  came  to  Pilate,  "  they 
began  to  accuse  him,"  that  is,  Jesus,  alleging  against  him 
falsehoods  which  his  whole  life  contradicted.  "  We  found 
this  fellow  perverting  the  nation,"  —  every  lesson  that  he 
taught  was  fitted  to  instruct,  to  sanctify,  and  to  elevate  the 
nation,  —  "  forbidding  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar."  The  very 
reverse  was  fact ;  for  they  brought  to  him  a  penny  ;  they 
asked  him  if  they  should  give  tribute  to  Ciesar?  and  he  said, 
"  Whose  superscription  is  this  on  it  ?  "  They  answered  him, 
"  Caesar's."  His  answer  then  was,  "  Pender  unto  Ciiisar  the 
things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  tliat  are 
God's."  There  was  no  crime  really ;  malignity  invented 
what  truth  and  fact  could  not  supply.  Pilate  then  asked 
him,  "  Art  thou  the  King  of  the  Jews  ?  "  And  Jesus  an- 
swered, in  language  the  most  solemn  and  the  most  emphatic, 
"I  am;"  or  according  to  the  idiom  which  amongst  the  Jews 
was  the  most  decided  atlirmation,  "  Thou  sayest  it,"  —  that 
is,  "  Thou  sayest  that  which  I  claim  to  be,  and  which  I 
really  and  truly  am."  "  Then  said  Pilate  to  the  chief  priests 
and  to  the  people,  I  find  no  fault  in  this  man."     He  was 


LUKE   XXIII.  437 

evidently  anxious  to  let  him  go  ;  he  was  afraid  lest  he  should 
imbrue  his  hands  in  innocent  blood  if  he  gave  him  up  to  be 
crucified.  But  instead  of  Pilate's  answer  falling  hke  oil 
upon  the  troubled  waves  of  the  democracy,  it  only  exasper- 
ated them  the  more,  —  "  they  were  the  more  fierce,  saying, 
He  stirreth  up  the  people,  teaching  throughout  all  Jewry, 
beginning  from  Galilee  to  this  place."  Then  Pilate,  always 
anxious  to  find  a  crevice  for  escape,  evidently  a  man  strug- 
gling between  what  his  conscience  told  him  was  his  duty, 
and,  what  his  interests  and  his  convenience  told  him  would 
be  his  safety  —  gave  way  to  the  dictates  of  expediency  to 
save  his  crown,  and  he  lost  it.  Principle  is  the  path  to  suc- 
cess ;  what  seems  expedient,  if  it  be  contrary  to  principle, 
never  is  so.  What  is  principle,  though  it  seem  inexpedient, 
always  in  the  long  run  necessarily  is  expedient.  Pilate, 
anxious  to  find  a  crevice  of  escape,  when  he  "  heard  of  Gal- 
ilee, asked  whether  the  man  were  a  Galilean."  And  when 
they  said  he  was  so,  he  then  thought,  "  Now  I  can  get  rid 
of  all  trouble ;  I  shall  be  able  to  save  my  conscience  and  to 
save  my  throne,  —  two  things,  neither  of  Avhich  I  will  resign 
without  a  struggle.  But  if  I  come  to  the  point,  when  I  am 
forced  to  take  my  choice,  then  I  will  give  up  my  conscience 
rather  than  give  up  my  crown."  When  he  heard  he  was  of 
Galilee,  which  "belonged  unto  Herod's  jurisdiction,  he  sent 
him  to  Herod."  Herod  was  exceedingly  glad  of  this.  He 
and  Pilate  had  been  at  war  with  each  other.  He  was  very 
glad  of  this  ;  for  he  was  desirous  to  see  a  man  of  some  no- 
toriety as  he  supposed ;  "  and  he  hoped  to  have  seen  some 
miracles  done  by  him,  —  as  fine  phenomena,  a^.  sort  of 
aurora  borealis,  or  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  or  the  moon,  or  as  a 
fine  chemical  experiment,  and  not  as  the  proofs  of  a  glorious 
truth,  which  all  Christ's  miracles  were.  "He  hoped,"  there- 
fore, "  to  have  seen  some  miracle  done  by  him,"  as  a  gratifi- 
cation to  his  taste,  and  which  he  would  enjoy  as  a  very 
splendid  pyrotechnical  display.     But  in  this  desire  lie  was 

37* 


438  ^    SCKirTLKE    KEADINGS. 

disappointed ;  for  Jesus  was  silent.  "  He  questioned  him  in 
many  words  ;  but  he  answered  him  nothing."  Then  Herod, 
probably  exasperated  at  this,  thinking  that  Christ  did  not 
show  towards  monarchy  the  deference  that  was  due  —  when 
it  would  have  been  a  violation  of  all  truth,  and  all  duty,  and 
all  principle  for  Christ  to  have  done  in  the  way  that  Herod 
Avished  —  when  he  saw  that  Christ  was  not  thus  to  be  made 
to  give  up  where  giving  up  would  have  been  sacrifice, 
"  Herod  with  his  men  of  war  set  him  at  nought,"  —  that  is, 
made  an  amusement  of  him, —  "  and  arrayed  him  in  a  gor- 
geous robe."  The  Eoman  emperors  wore  purple  robes,  the 
Jewish  kings  wore  Avhite  ones ;  but  in  both  cases,  and  es- 
pecially in  the  latter,  they  wore  magnificent  tissues  of  silver ; 
and  you  will  recollect  reading  in  Scripture  of  Herod  arrayed 
in  his  robes  on  a  festive  day,  when  the  sheen  or  the  splen- 
dor of  the  sun  striking  against  the  silver  in  his  robes  made 
him  appear  in  all  the  splendor  of  a  god ;  and  the  people 
bowed  the  knee,  and  gave  him  idolatrous  worship.  Now 
he  put  upon  Christ  the  robe  that  should  indicate  to  the  peo- 
ple his  crimes,  and  that  should  make  him  an  object  for  their 
ridicule  or  their  scorn,  and  expose  him  as  the  most  detested 
and  hateful  in  the  group  of  criminals,  among  whom  he  was 
then  to  suffer.  It  is  then  stated  that  the  same  day  Pilate 
and  Herod  were  made  friends  together;  for  before  they 
"  were  at  enmity  between  themselves."  I  have  often  heard 
this  text  quoted  very  inappropriately ;  I  have  heard  it  said 
that  Infidelity  and  Popery  can  coalesce  when  truth  is  to  be 
crucified.  That  is  perfectly  true;  but  the  illustration  given 
is  not  trm,  —  "  Just  as  Pilate  and  Herod  were  made  friends, 
when  Christ  was  to  be  crucified."  Now  the  fact  is,  their 
friendship  was  restored,  not  by  their  conjoint  determination 
to  crucify  the  Lord  of  glory ;  but  Herod  felt  Pilate's  cour- 
tesy and  kindness  so  great  in  giving  him  a  sight  of  this  man 
Jesus,  that  he  forgave  the  quarrel  of  the  past,  and  in  return 
for  the  courtesy  that  Pilate  had  shown  him,  Herod  restored 


LUKE   XXIII.  439 

him  to  friendship  and  communion  with  himself.  Let  us 
quote  even  illustrations  correctly  if  we  can,  and  not  illustrate 
what  in  itself  is  most  true,  by  a  precedent  that  really  does 
not  bear  upon  the  subject  at  all. 

Then  Pilate,  Avhen  he  found  that  Jesus  was  retm-ned  to 
him,  and  that  Herod  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  him, 
"called  together  the  chief  priests,  and  the  rulers,  and  the 
people."  Mark  how  reluctant  Pilate  is  to  crucify  Jesus. 
He  felt  it  to  be  the  most  painful  act  in  his  life ;  he  woidd 
have  given  all  that  he  had,  short  of  his  sovereignty  and  his 
popularity  with  the  peoj)le ;  but  he  could  not  find  an  excuse 
for  letting  Christ  go.  There  was  a  great  deal  about  Pilate 
in  this  respect  which  indicates  that  he  was  a  humane  man, 
and  that  nothing  but  the  selfish  desire  to  maintain  what  he 
subsequently  lost  made  him  give  up  Christ  to  the  fury,  the 
merciless  fury  of  the  exasperated  chief  priests,  and  scribes, 
and  peoj)le.  He  then  said  to  them  again,  "  Ye  have  brought 
this  man  unto  me,  as  one  that  perverteth  the  people :  and, 
behold,  I,  having  examined  him  before  you,  have  found  no 
fault  in  this  man  touching  those  things  whereof  ye  accuse 
him :  no,  nor  yet  Herod :  for  I  sent  you  to  him ;  and,  lo, 
nothing  worthy  of  death  is  done  unto  him."  "  Now  then," 
beseechingly  a  ruler  says  to  his  subjects,  "  I  will  therefore 
chastise  him,  and  release  him."  "  Let  us  have  done  with 
this  business  ;  it  is  evident  there  is  something  wrong  in  your 
condemnation.  I  would  not  venture  to  say  that  you,  my 
subjects,  are  capable  of  domg  wrong ;  but  I  will  just  chastise 
him,  which  is  punishment  enough  for  what  he  has  done,  and 
then  I  will  let  him  go."  "  For  of  necessity  he  must  release 
one  unto  them  at  the  feast."  And  they  cried  out  all  at  once, 
saying,  "Away  with  this  man,  and  release  unto  us  Barabbas," 
—  a  murderer  and  a  robber,  then  in  prison.  "  Pilate  there- 
fore, willing  to  release  Jesus,"  —  still  anxious  to  release 
him,  — "  spake  again  to  them.  But  they  cried,  saying, 
Crucify  him."     Tlicn  he  tried  it  a  third  time ;  every  effort 


440  SCRirTURE    READINGS. 

he  exhausted  in  order  to  let  Jesus  go.  "  Why,  what  evil 
hath  he  done  ?  I  have  found  no  cause  of  death  in  him :  I 
will  therefore  chastise  him,  and  let  him  go."  But  "  they 
w^ere  instant  with  loud  voices,  requiring  that  he  might  be 
crucified."  And  then  the  ruler's  conscience  was  placed  in 
abeyance,  in  deference  to  the  maintenance  of  his  crown ;  and 
the  people's  voice,  whose  regards  he  was  bent  at  all  hazards 
on  conciliating  as  the  supposed  true  safety  and  strength  of 
his  throne,  prevailed,  and  he  "  gave  sentence  that  it  should 
be  as  they  required."  You  see  in  Pilate  much  that  was  hu- 
mane, you  see  in  his  conduct  much  that  was  extremely 
vacillating ;  you  see  a  man  balancing  his  interests,  his  ap- 
parent interests,  against  his  obvious  duty,  losing  all  the  re- 
spect that  was  due  to  a  ruler,  and  giving  way  where  firmness 
might  have  been  martyrdom,  but  when  it  would  have  been 
peace  in  his  conscience  more  precious  than  a  crown,  and  the 
reflection  that  at  least  he  had  tried  to  do  his  duty. 

After  this,  Jesus  was  led  away  to  be  crucified.  "And 
there  followed  him  a  great  company  of  people,  and  of  women, 
which  also  bewailed  and  lamented  him."  Then  he  turned 
round  to  them,  and  in  most  touching  and  prophetic  accents 
he  said,  "  Daughters  of  Jerusalem,"  —  that  is,  women  of 
Jerusalem,  —  "  weep  not  for  me,"  —  I  am  really  not  to  be 
wept  for,  —  "  but  weep  for  yourselves,  and  for  your  children. 
For,  behold,  the  days  are  coming,  in  the  which  they  that 
have  no  children  will  feel  thankful  to  God,"  —  days  when 
the  mother  shall  devour  her  child,  as  Josephus  records  in  the 
horrors  of  famine  at  that  terrible  scene,  and  when  the  poor 
refugees,  who  have  now  conspired  with  a  miserable  and  a 
vacillating  prince  in  crucifying  in  their  ignorance  the  Lord 
of  glory,  "  will,"  as  Josephus  relates,  "  rush  into  the  sewers, 
and  dens,  and  cellars  of  Jerusalem,  and  pray  that  the  moun- 
tains would  fall  upon  them,  and  hide  them  from  the  terrible 
sufferings  which  seemed  still  further  to  await  them."  All 
this  was  literally  fulfiUed  at  the  siege  and  downfiill  of  Jeru- 


LUKE    XXI II.  441 

salem.  And  Jesus  says,  "  If  they  do  these  things  in  a  green 
tree,  what  shall  be  done  in  the  dry  ?  "  —  that  is,  if  a  fire  be 
so  intense  that  it  makes  fuel  of  a  green  branch  just  cut  from 
the  parent  trunk,  what  tremendous  and  speedy  havoc  will  it 
make  of  a  tree  dry  and  just  ready  for  the  burning !  If  they 
do  this  to  me,  who  am  innocent,  what  will  they  do  to  them 
that  are  guilty  ?  "  If  the  righteous  scarcely  be  saved,"  to 
apply  it  to  another  case,  "  where  shall  the  ungodly  and  the 
sinner  appear  ?  " 

They  then  crucified  him,  it  is  said,. between  two  thieves: 
and  the  prayer  of  Jesus  as  a  priest  arose,  "  Father,  forgive 
them  ;  for  they  know  not  what  they  do."  Their  ignorance 
palliated  their  crime,  but  did  not  exculpate  them.  "  Had 
they  known,"  says  the  apostle,  "  they  would  not  have  cruci- 
fied the  Lord  of  glory."  I  believe  it  was  most  true  that 
numbers  of  those  who  were  engaged  in  this  awful  tragedy 
did  not  know  that  he  was  the  Messiah.  Tliey  believed  that 
he  was  an  impostor ;  but  there  was  evidence  enough  to  con- 
vince them,  if  they  had  examined  it,  that  he  was  the  Mes- 
siah. For  instance,  the  sceptic  will  not  be  condemned  at 
the  judgment-seat  for  his  scepticism,  but  he  will  be  con- 
demned for  not  having  applied  to  the  investigation  of  truth, 
the  impartiality,  the  candor,  the  research  which  a  naturalist 
expends  on  the  petal  of  a  flower,  or  the  mineralogist  on  a 
mineral,  or  the  astronomer  on  the  investigation  of  the  orbit 
of  a  comet,  or  a  planet,  or  tlie  sun.  The  great  crime  is  not 
in  the  conclusion,  but  in  the  steps  that  lead  to  that  conclu- 
sion. And  I  must  say,  I  respect  the  sceptic  who  says,  "  I 
have  searched  and  thought,  and  with  pain  I  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  Christianity  is  untrue."  But  whenever  the 
sceptic  triumphs  in  his  scepticism,  and  rejoices  in  the  con- 
clusion to  which  he  has  come,  I  always  suspect  that  man's 
heart,  as  well  as  am  amazed  at  the  man's  head.  But  if  a 
man  were  to  come  to  me,  and  say,  "  I  am  a  sceptic,  and  I 
have  come  to  that  conclusion  with  great  research,"  then  he 


442  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

is  much  nearer  the  kingdom  of  heaven  than  many  a  man 
that  cries,  "  Lord,  Lord,"  while  in  his  deeds  he  actually 
denies  him.  Not  that  I  believe  scepticism  is  a  logical  con- 
clusion: for  no  fact  in  the  whole  annals  of  the  past  is  there 
more  triumphant,  broad,  and  cumulative  proof  than  for  this 
—  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  sinners;  the 
Bible  the  reflection  of  his  character,  and  the  revelation  of 
his  holy  and  his  blessed  will. 

We  then  read,  that  they  put  an  inscription  upon  the  cross, 
"  This  is  the  King  of  the  Jews."  And  here  occurs  the  re- 
markable and  touching  instance  of  the  two  thieves,  crucified 
the  one  upon  the  left,  and  the  other  upon  the  right  of  Jesus ; 
one  convinced  and  converted,  and  the  other  unbelieving,  and 
dying  in  his  unbelief.  We  read,  "  it  was  about  the  sixth 
hour ;  "  that  is,  twelve  o'clock  ;  and  from  twelve  to  three,  the 
ninth  hour,  Avhen  he  died ;  and  then  we  are  told  there  was 
darkness  over  all  the  earth.  Several  heathen  writers  refer 
to  a  preternatural  darkness  that  took  place  at  that  time ;  the 
sun  was  darkened,  and  the  veil  of  the  temple  was  "rent," — ■ 
to  indicate  that  the  Levitical  economy  was  at  an  end,  the 
holy  of  holies  was  laid  bare  ;  there  is  to  be  none  in  the 
Christian  church,  but  all  are  priests,  all  have  equal  access  to 
God  in  Christ,  and  to  stand  before  him  in  his  holy  temple. 
"  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit."  "  Having 
said  thus,  he  gave  up  the  ghost,"  —  literally  translated,  "he 
dismissed  his  spirit."  The  death  of  Christ  was  voluntary. 
He  gave  up  his  spirit  in  the  full  strength  and  vigor  of  his 
life  ;  he  poured  out  his  soul  unto  death,  breathing  forth  his 
victory  in  those  last  accents  recorded  by  the  Evangelist 
John,  "  It  is  finished ; "  —  "  he  gave  up  the  ghost.  Now 
when  the  centurion  "  —  a  Roman  soldier  looking  on  —  "  saw 
what  was  done,"  he  exclaimed,  from  the  force  of  proof  and 
conviction,  "  Certainly  this  Avas  a  righteous  man."  The 
whole  spectacle  proves  that  he  was  so.  We  have  then  the 
instance  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  evidently  a  believer,  like 


LUKE    XXIII.  443 

Simeon  waiting  for  the  consolation  of  Israel,  providing  a 
tomb  for  Him  for  whom  the  world  had  provided  only  a 
cross ;  and  fulfilling  what  the  ancient  prophet  had  said, 
"  that  he  was  with  the  wicked  in  his  death,  and  with  the  rich 
in  his  grave." 

Now,  did  you  ever  read  a  chapter  in  romance,  ancient  or 
modern,  a  division  in  a  poem,  ancient  or  modern,  that  can 
approach  to  this  in  awful  magnificence  and  grandeur? 
Never  was  such  a  story  written,  never  Avas  there  such  evi- 
dence that  the  painter  of  it  sketched  from  a  living  original, 
never  such  proof  that  this  is  no  cunningly  devised  fable, 
never  such  demonstration  underlying  the  whole  portrait  that 
He  who  was  here,  was  and  is  what  he  professed  to  be,  and 
what  we  glory  in  worshipping  him  as,  the  Son  of  God,  the 
Saviour  of  sinners. 


CHAPTER    XXIII.  50,  51. 

JOSEPH  OF  ARIMATHEA  —  GENEROUS  —  MONEY  NOT  NECESSARY  TO 
GENEROSITY  — JUST  —  A  CHRISTIAN  —  A  PROTESTANT  —  GEN- 
ERAL  COUNCILS — RICHES. 

There  is  a  character  in  this  chapter  not  unworthy  of 
special  analysis.  It  is  stated  in  ver.  50  :  "  And,  behold, 
there  was  a  man  named  Joseph,  a  counsellor ;  and  he  was  a 
good  man,  and  just:  (the  same  had  not  consented  to  the 
counsel  and  deed  of  them ;)  he  was  of  Arimathea,  a  city  of 
the  Jews :  which  also  himself  waited  for  the  kingdom  of 
God." 

In  the  course  of  my  explanatory  remarks  on  this  chapter 
I  was  not  able  to  enter  as  I  could  desire  on  the  beautiful 
portrait  that  is  here  sketched,  of  a  distinguished  senator,  or 
chief  of  the  Sanhedrim  among  the  Jews ;  who  was  faithful 
amid  the  faithful  few,  when  Christ  was  placed  at  the  bar  of 
his  country,  and  tried  as  a  malefactor,  though  the  Son  of 
God,  the  Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth.  We  find  here 
then  a  character,  rare,  unhappily,  in  that  day,  drawn  by  the 
pen  of  inspiration,  possessed  of  some  traits  so  singularly 
beautiful,  and  contrasting  with  those  that  were  around  it, 
that  it  is  worthy  of  our  study,  as  a  miniature  amid  the 
many  that  are  contained  in  this  blessed  volume,  —  this  record 
of  holy  character,  of  responsibility,  and  of  duty. 

First  of  all,  we  have  the  personal  character  of  this  dis- 
tinguished protestor  in  the  midst  of  the  Sanhedrim.  The 
Sanhedrim,  I  have  said  before,  was  the  council,  or  senate,  or 

(444) 


i 


LUKE    XXIIT.  445 

parliament,  If  you  like,  of  the  Jews.  It  was  presided  over 
by  the  high-priest;  the  chief  priests  and  certain  laymen 
were  its  constituent  and  component  members  ;  and  one  of 
them  was  Joseph  of  Arimathea.  "  He  was  a  good  man, 
and  a  just  man,  and  he  waited  for  the  kingdom  of  God." 
The  w^ord  "  good,"  in  tlie  original,  means  more  frequently 
generous  than  simply  free  from  vice  or  wickedness  of  any 
sort.  It  denotes,  therefore,  that  this  Joseph  of  Arimathea 
was  a  liberal  and  generous  man  ;  one  that  gave  with  an 
open  hand,  freely  from  the  heart,  that  vrhich  God  had  pre- 
viously given  him.  This  is  a  trait  worthy  of  our  imitation. 
Are  we  made  rich  ?  It  is  that  some  of  the  poor  may  bene- 
fit by  our  excess.  Are  we  learned  ?  It  is  that  the  ignorant 
may  be  enlightened  by  our  learning.  Have  we  influence  of 
any  sort,  or  power,  or  authority  ?  It  is,  tliat  those  subject 
to  us  and  connected  V\'itli  us,  and  needing  what  we  have,  and 
they  have  not,  may  derive  from  us  blessings  temporal  and 
spiritual,  and  it  may  be  eternal.  Solomon  was  never  made 
^Yise  only  for  himself;  the  rich  man  in  the  parable,  though 
he  thought  otherwise^  was  not  made  rich  for  himself.  One 
man  who  is  stronger  than  his  fellows,  is  strong  that  he  may 
aid  the  weak  ;  one  wdio  is  richer  than  his  neighbor,  is  richer 
that  he  may  benefit  the  poor.  It  is  the  great  law  of  the 
economy  under  which  we  live,  that  no  man  shall  live  for 
himself;  and  singularly  enough,  he  will  find  that  the  less  he 
lives  for  himself,  the  more  he  does  so  in  the  right  sense  of 
the  word ;  and  that  no  man  so  enjoys  himself  as  lie  that 
sacrifices  himself  for  the  benefit  and  advantage  of  others. 
But  all  that  I  have  said  supposes  that  you  have  something 
to  give.  But  it  is  announced  in  almost  every  page  of  the 
Bible  that  you  may  be  rich  without  riches,  you  may  be  gen- 
erous without  the  power  of  making  that  generosity  kiiown. 
There  may  be  in  the  heart  a  perfect  mine  of  generosity 
when  there  is  nothing  in  the  hand  to  express  that  generosity 
to  the  world  and  to  mankind.  If  you  have  no  wealth  on 
38 


446  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

which  you  can  draw,  if  you  have  no  social  influence  which 
you  can  "wield  for  the  benefit  of  others,  still  there  is  the  in- 
exhaustible capital  of  a  liberal,  a  gracious,  a  sanctified  heart 
that  may  pour  forth  its  expressions  in  looks  of  love,  in  words 
of  sympathy,  in  wishes  that  we  could  do  what  we  Avould  do ; 
and  very  often  a  kind  word  is  to  a  poor  man  as  weighty  as 
gold,  and  an  affectionate  look  as  comforting  as  warm  rai- 
ment. Not  that  you  are  to  make  the  look  a  substitute  for 
the  warm  raiment ;  but  where  there  is  no  means  of  giving 
from  your  liberality,  you  have  what  you  can  give  instead  of 
means  that  you  have  not  —  words  of  kindness,  looks  of  love, 
expressions  of  sympathy ;  and,  above  all,  when  you  have 
nothing  that  you  can  spare  for  others,  you  can  pray  to  him 
"wdio  is  the  Husband  of  the  widow,  and  the  Father  of  the 
orphan,  that  he  would  put  it  into  the  heart  of  them  that 
have,  to  give  more  liberally  to  them  that  have  not.  Thus 
we  may  be  good  without  the  expression  of  goodness  ;  liberal, 
though  in  providence  we  may  have  nothing  to  give.  God 
sees  the  heart ;  and  judges  what  we  are,  not  by  what  we 
give,  but  by  what  we  feel ;  and  classes  us,  according  as  he 
sees  a  truly  sympathizing  and  gracious  heart,  with  Joseph 
of  Arimathea,  a  good  or  a  generous  man. 

But,  in  the  second  place,  in  this  character  it  is  stated  that 
he  was  not  only  generous,  but  he  was  also  ^just  man.  Now 
very  often  the  aphorism  is  quoted,  "  We  must  be  just  before 
we  are  generous."  I  think  that  is  wrong  ;  even  as  it  would 
be  wrong  to  say,  we  ought  to  be  generous  before  we  are 
just.  We  ought  not  to  put  the  two  in  antagonism;  we 
ought  to  be  both  just  and  generous,  generous  and  just :  and 
if  we  be  Christians  we  shall  be  so.  Of  course  we  must  pay 
our  debts  before  we  give  away  in  liberality,  or  in  charity ; 
we  must  be  just  in  order  to  have  a  basis  on  which  to  be 
generous.  No  man  can  be  generous  who  is  not  just;  and 
let  me  add,  though  it  may  seem  almost  a  contradiction,  no 
man  can  be  just  who  is  not  generous.     We  owe  generosity ; 


LUKE   XXIII.  447 

-we  may  owe  no  man  any  thing,  yet  we  owe  to  love  one 
another  —  and  the  man  that  does  not  love,  and,  as  the  ex- 
pression of  that  love,  do  what  he  can  to  help  them  that  are 
needy,  is  not  just.  It  is  therefore  absurd  to  put  justice  and 
generosity  in  antagonism ;  the  two  must  go  together ;  God 
has  joined  them,  and  what  God  has  joined  man  may  not 
put  asunder.  Hence  the  Christian  is  defined  as  one  that 
does  justly,  therefore  loves  mercy,  and  walks  humbly  with 
his  God. 

But  there  is  a  third  trait  in  this  good  man.  He  was  not 
only  generous,  he  was  not  only  just,  but  he  was  what  is  the 
true  spring,  and  source,  and  fountain  of  both  —  a  Christian. 
It  was  the  grace  of  God  in  his  heart  that  made  him  a  just 
man  and  a  generous  man ;  for,  it  is  added,  "  he  waited  for 
the  kingdom  of  God,"  —  that  is,  he  was  a  Christian.  We 
read,  that  Simeon  waited  for  the  "consolation  of  Israel." 
So  we  read  again,  "  there  were  those  that  looked  for  re- 
demption in  Israel ; "  Joseph  was  one  that  looked  for  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Therefore,  he  had  read  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Scriptures  ;  therefore,  he  had  believed  what  he  read. 
He  accordingly  looked  for  a  Saviour ;  the  Christian  of  his 
day  looked  forward  to  a  coming  Saviour,  just  as  the  Chris- 
tian of  our  day  looks  backward  and  upward  to  a  Saviour 
that  has  come.  It  is  an  expression  of  true  and  lively  faith 
in  Christ  as  the  only  Redeemer.  He  was  a  Christian,  and 
gave  evidence  of  it  by  resting  upon  Christ.  What  is  a 
Christian  ?  One  that  looks  to,  leans  on  Christ.  Christ  — 
Christian ;  one  that  belongs  to  Christ,  anointed  with  him, 
united  to  him.  And  because  he  was  a  Christian,  he  was 
just  and  generous.  And  the  proof  of  this  is  such  a  passage 
as  the  following:  "The  grace  of  God  that  bringeth  salva- 
tion teacheth  us  to  live  soberly,"  —  that  is,  to  do  our  duty  to 
ourselves;  secondly,  "justly,"  —  that  is,  to  do  our  duty  to 
our  neighbor;  and  lastly,  " godly,"  —  that  is,  to  fulfil  our 
obligations  to  our  God:  or,  to  do  "justly,"  the  duty  to  our- 


448  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

selves ;  "  to  love  mercy,"  the  duty  to  our  neigU)or  ;  "  and  to 
walk  humbly  with  our  God," — our  obligations  to  our  God. 
But  the  spring  of  it  all  is  defined  to  be  grace ;  and  there- 
fore, it  was  the  Christianity  of  this  man  that  overflowed  his 
character,  gave  it  its  bright  tints,  its  holy  tones.  Its  onward 
and  its  upward  progress,  and  made  him  stand  up  for  Christ 
where  so  few  were  disposed  or  willing  to  do  so. 

Having  seen  then  his  character,  fulfilling  the  three  obli- 
gations of  duty  to  himself,  duty  to  his  neighbor,  and  duty  to 
his  God,  up  to  the  measure  of  his  opportunity  and  the 
grace  that  was  given  him,  let  me  now  notice  how  he  carried 
his  Christian  character  into  his  ofl^icial  life.  You  will  ob- 
serve it  stated  here  in  very  few  words,  but  words  that  are 
extremely  significant.  "  The  same  "  —  that  is,  Joseph  — 
"had  not  consented  to  the  counsel  and  deed  of  them,"  — 
that  is,  those  that  denied  Christ,  who  condemned  him,  and 
regarded  him  as  a  malefactor.  He  did  not  consent  to  it. 
In  the  Bible  a  negative  of  this  description  is  very  often  the 
most  expressive  positive.  I  have  not  the  least  doubt,  that, 
if  time  permitted,  I  might  show  that  this  implies  that  he 
stood  up  and  boldly  protested  against  the  conduct  of  them 
who  condemned  Christ  at  the  judgment  of  the  Sanhedrim  as 
a  malefactor,  guilty  of  blasphemy,  and  that  ought  to  be  pun- 
ished with  death.  Now  Joseph  of  Arimathea  was  not  con- 
tented with  being  a  Christian  in  his  closet ;  he  was  a  Chris- 
tian in  the  parliament.  That  man,  you  may  depend  upon 
it,  whose  Christianity  is  restricted  to  his  own  bosom  or  to 
his  own  closet,  and  who,  when  he  enters  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, or  the  House  of  Lords,  forgets  that  he  is  a  Christian, 
and  consents  to  laws  that  are  heathen,  or  gives  votes  that 
are  atheistic,  may  think  himself  a  Christian ;  but  I  cannot 
see  how  it  is  possible  to  discover  it.  It  seems  to  me  that  a 
man's  Christianity  is  not  like  his  cloak  —  something  that  he 
is  to  wear  in  its  place,  and  hang  up  and  leave  behind  him 
when  he  goes  into  a  drawing-room,  or  into  a  parliament,  or 


LUKE   XXIII.  449 

into  an  office ;  but  that  it  is  part  and  parcel  of  himself;  the 
very  texture  of  his  soul,  that  he  is  not  to  lay  aside  here,  and 
put  on  there ;  but  that  he  is  to  have  always  governing,  con- 
trolling, sanctifying,  inspiring  every  thought  he  thinks,  every 
word  he  speaks,  and  every  act  that  he  does.  I  fear  that 
such  Christianity  is  rare.  Some  do  not  act  in  public  as 
Christians  because  they  think  Christianity  is  a  personal 
thing.  It  is  a  personal  thing,  and  it  is  supremely  a  per- 
sonal thiiig ;  but  it  is  not  exclusively  a  personal  thing. 
There  is  the  distinction  —  it  is  supremely  a  personal  thing, 
but  not  exclusively  a  personal  thing.  Do  you  think  the 
queen  of  Tahiti  did  wrong,  when  she  became  a  Christian,  to 
tell  her  subjects,  "  Here  is  a  chapel  I  have  built  for  your 
use,  ajid  here  are  missionaries  I  wall  maintain  for  your  in- 
struction ?  I  do  not  drive  you  to  chapel  by  the  sword  — 
that  would  be  persecution  —  I  will  not  interfere  with  your 
conscience  —  that  would  be  intolerance  —  but  I  have  pro- 
vided for  you  a  chapel,  and  the  means  of  knowing  and  wor- 
shipping God."  I  think  that  was  Christianity  ;  or  doing  as 
a  queen  that  which  she  is  requested  to  do  in  the  second 
Psalm,  —  "  Kiss  the  Son,  "ye  kings  of  the  earth,  lest  ye  per- 
ish from  the  way."  I  know  that  others  will  feel  this  diffi- 
culty.; that  they  are  afraid  lest  if  they  should  profess  to  be 
Christians  in  the  House  of  Commons,  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  in  a  public  assembly  of  any  sort,  it  should  be  sup- 
posed that  it  is  ostentation.  I  think  you  misconceive  me  if 
you  come  to  that  conclusion.  I  do  not  mean  that  a  member 
of  parliament  should  stand  up  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
and  say,  "  Now  I  am  a  Christian,  and  I  will  prove  it  by 
texts  from  the  Bible."  That  would  be  absurd,  and  would 
not  show  much  real  Christianity.  But  w^hat  he  is  to  do 
should  be,  so  to  speak,  that  all  he  is  speaking  be  governed 
by  Christian  principle.  It  is  not  quoting  texts  that  make 
Christianity.  I  have  heard  speeches  full  of  texts  that  were 
most  unchristian,  I  have  heard  spc^eches  without  a  text  in 
38* 


4:50  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

them  that  were  Christian  from  beginning  to  end.  We  are 
to  show  that  we  are  Christians,  not  by  quoting  texts,  but  by 
doing  acts  and  speaking  words  that  are  the  echoes  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  indicate  its  inspiration,  its  presence,  and  its 
power.  So  Joseph  of  Arimathea  did.  I  dare  say  he  was 
one  of  the  most  courteous  members  of  the  Sanhedrim ;  one 
of  the  most  quiet,  the  least  bustling,  the  least  of  an  aristo- 
crat, the  least  of  a  democrat ;  but  when  a  crisis  came,  when 
it  must  be  shown  on  whose  side  he  was,  he  consented 
not  to  the  counsel  of  them  that  gave  up  Christ  as  a  male- 
factor. 

Joseph  of  Arimathea  was  obviously  a  Protestant.  What 
is  a  Protestant  ?  It  is  derived  from  the  word  protestor  —  "I 
witness  for,"  or,  "  I  protest."  And  the  Christians  at  the 
Diet  of  Spires  called  themselves  "  Protestants,"  because  they 
protested  against  a  decision  that  was  inconsistent  with  truth 
and  scriptural  Christianity ;  and  they  became,  as  I  showed 
you,  the  successors  of  the  witnesses  that  prophesied  in  sack- 
cloth. Here,  then,  was  Joseph  of  Arimathea  standing  up  in 
the  midst  of  the  Sanhedrim,  and  showing  himself  a  Protes- 
tant ;  standing  for  Christ  when  all  beside  and  around  him 
were  apostates,  denying  Christ,  crucifying  the  Lord,  and 
putting  him  to  an  open  shame. 

Joseph  of  Arimathea  stood  alone  in  the  midst  of  the 
Sanhedrim.  I  do  not  know  a  position  that  is  more  diffi- 
cult, or  one  in  this  world  more  trying,  than  to  stand  alone 
when  the  cause  of  truth  and  of  righteousness  is  in  peril. 
One  does  not  like  to  be  separated  from  the  crowd,  to  be 
scoffed  at ;  one  would  rather  be  Avithout  it ;  but  when  duty 
demands  that  you  shall  take  up  the  position  that  must  pay 
the  penalty  of  being  abused,  then  you  must  court  and  wel- 
come abuse  as  a  bride,  alid  rejoice  in  it  for  Christ's  sake. 
Now  Joseph  of  Arimathea  remained  alone,  standing  for  truth 
when  all  the  Sanhedrim  besides  voted  against  him. 


LUKE    XXIII.  451 

"  Truth  crusli'd  to  eartli  will  rise  again, 
The  eternal  years  of  Goil  ai-e  hers  ; 
But  Error,  wounded,  writhes  with  pain, 
And  dies  amid  lier  worshippers." 

Let  me  notice,  in  the  next  place,  that  we  have  in  this  fact 
of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim  giving  up  Christ,  and  one  only- 
standing  up  for  Christ,  that  general  councils  were  not  in- 
fallible in  the  days  of  the  Jewish  Church,  and  I  cannot  see 
from  their  future  history,  that  they  have  shown  themselves 
infallible  in  the  days  and  during  the  experience  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  Now  here  was  a  Sanhedrim  in  which  the  vast 
majority  were  clergy ;  and  the  only  one  in  it  that  said  a 
word  for  Christ  was  a  Christian  layman,  and  not  a  rabbi,  or 
a  chief  priest,  or  a  chief  Pharisee,  or  even  a  scribe  at  all. 

Riches  do  not  necessarily  and  always  corrupt  those  that 
have  them.  Joseph  of  Arimathea  was  not  only  a  counsel- 
lor or  senator,  not  only  a  just  man,  a  good  man,  a  Christian 
man,  but  we  read  also  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew,  where 
he  is  described,  that  he  was  also  a  rich  man. 

In  the  very  worst  state  into  which  the  Church  may  have 
sunk,  there  are  bright  and  beautiful  exceptions.  The  Jew- 
ish Church  at  this  day  had  become  almost  universally  apos- 
tate ;  yet  here  was  a  Simeon,  there*  was  an  Anna,  there  was 
a  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  and  there  again  was  a  Nicodemus,  — 
Christians,  in  it,  but  not  of  it ;  flowerets  in  the  bleak  desert 
that  the  sirocco  had  not  blasted ;  sweet  springs  in  the  midst 
of  the  wilderness  that  had  not  exhausted  all  their  riches ; 
faithful  amid  the  faithless,  lights  in  the  universal  eclipse, 
protesting  against  the  corruption,  and  preserving  their  robes 
unspotted  by  it.  Just  as  in  thetPhurch  of  Rome  in  its  worst 
days,  they  were  not  all  Hildebrands. 

Are  we  thus  on  Christ's  side?  Who  is  on  the  Lord's 
side  ?  Should  we  have  joined  with  Joseph  the  counsellor  of 
Arimathea  in  the  Sanhedrim  at  Jerusalem?  That  we  can- 
not say ;  but  I  can  put  it  in  another  shape.     Do  we  imitate 


452  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Joseph  by  standing  for  truth,  speaking  for  it,  living  for  it, 
giving  for  it,  in  the  midst  of  a  world  that  disowns  and  denies 
him? 


Note.  —  [34.]  Spoken  apparently  during  the  act  of  the  crucifixion,  or 
immediately  that  the  crosses  were  set  up.  Now  first  in  the  fullest  sense, 
from  the  wounds  in  his  feet  and  hands,  is  his  blood  shed,  eig  u(j)eGiv 
AfiapTtcJv  (Matt.  xxvi.  28),  and  he  inaugurates  his  intercessional  office 
by  a  prayer  for  his  murderers,  —  u(j)e^  avTolg.  This  also  is  a  fulfilment 
of  Scripture  (Isa.  liii.  12),  where  the  contents  of  our  verses  33,  34,  arc 
remarkably  pointed  out.  His  teaching  ended  at  verse  31.  His  high 
priesthood  is  now  begun.  His  first  three  sayings  on  the  cross  are  for 
others,  see  ver.  43;  John  xix.  26,  27.  Ilarep.  He  is  the  Son  of  God, 
and  he  speaks  in  the  fulness  of  this  covenant  relation,  —  h/u  ySeiv  on 
iravTore  (lov  uKoveic.  It  is  not  merely  a  prayer,  but  the  prayer  of  the 
Great  Intercessor,  which  is  always  lieard.  Notice,  that  though  on  the 
cross,  there  is  no  alienation,  no  wrath  of  condemnation,  between  the 
Father  and  the  Son.  u(j)ec  avwl^.  Who  are  here  intended  1  Doubt- 
less, first  and  directly,  the  four  soldiers,  whose  work  it  had  been  to 
crucify  him.  The  noiovat  points  directly  at  tliis  ;  and  it  is  sui-ely  a  mis- 
take to  suppose  that  they  wanted  no  forgiveness,  because  they  were 
only  doing  their  duty.  Stier  remarks,  "  this  is  only  a  misleading  fal- 
lacy, for  they  were  sinners  even  as  others,  and  their  obedient  and  for- 
mal performance  "of  their  duty  was  not  without  a  sinful  pleasure  in 
doing  it,  or  at  all  events  formed  part  of  their  entire  standing  as  sinners, 
included  in  that  sin  of  the  woi-ld  to  which  the  Lord  here  ascribes  his 
crucifixion."  —  vi.  501.  But  not  only  to  them,  but  to  them  as  the  rep- 
resentatives of  that  sin  of  the  world,  does  this  prayer  apply.  The 
nominative  to  Troiovai  is  ol  av&puTzoL,  —  mankind  —  the  Jewish  nation, 
as  the  next  moving  agent  in  his  death  — but  all  of  us,  inasmuch  as  for 
our  sins  he  was  bruised,  ov  yap  oldaat  rl  ttolovgl.  Primarily,  as  be- 
fore, spoken  of  the  soldiers,  then  of  the  council  who  delivered  him  up, 
(see  John  xi.  49,  viiEtg  ovk  ol^e  ohdlv),  then  of  all  whose  sin  is 
from  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  truths,  —  of  what  sin  is,  and  what  it  has 
done,  even  the  crucifixion  of  the  Lord.  But  certainly,  from  this  inter- 
cession is  excluded  that  one  sin,  —  strikingly  brought  out  by  the  pas- 
sage just  cited  as  committed  by  him  who  said  it,  viz.  Caiaphas,  and 
hinted  at  again  by  the  Lord  (John  xix.  11),  and  perhaps  also  by  the 
awful  answer  (Matt.  xxvi.  64,  1v  elrrag),  "  Thou  hast  said  it,"  viz.  in 
prophecy,  John  xi.  49  ;  see  also  Matt.  xii.  31 ;  1  John  v.  16.     Observe, 


LUKE    XXIII.  453 

that  between  the  two  members  of  this  prayer  lies  the  work  of  the  Spirit 
leading  to  repentance, — the  prayer  that  they  may  have  their  eyes 
opened,  and  knoAV  what  they  have  done ;  which  is  the  necessary  sub- 
jective condition  of  forgiveness  of  sins. 

It  is  remarkable  how,  in  three  following  sayings,  the  Lord  appears 
as  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King :  as  Prophet,  to  the  daughters  of  Jeru- 
salem—  Priest,  interceding  for  forgiveness  —  King,  acknowledged  by 
the  penitent  thief,  and  answering  his  prayer.  —  Alford. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 


EARLY  VISIT  TO  THE  TOMB  —  NO  EXPECTATION  OF  THE  EESURREC- 
TION  OF  JESUS — IMPOSSIBILITY  OF  INFIDEL  OBJECTIONS — AN- 
GEL  APPEARANCES CHRISt'S    BODY  AS  OURS FEMALE    DEVOT- 

EDNESS THE    MEANING  OF    THE    THIRD  DAY DISCIPLES  GOING 

TO  EMMAUS CHRIST  PREACHES  HIMSELF BREAKING  OF  BREAD 

NOT  COMMUNION  —  BODY  AFTER  RESURRECTION  —  JESUS  ASCENDS 
AND  IS  WORSHIPPED. 

This  is  the  last,  and  not  the  least  instructive  chaj^ter  of 
that  interesting  Gospel  which  we  have  read  and  pondered 
together.  It  crowns  the  toils,  the  sufferings,  and  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  Son  of  God,  and  reveals  to  us  the  magnificent 
close  to  SO  martyr-like  and  striking  a  biography.  We  are 
told  that  "  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  very  early  in  the 
morning"  —  literally  translated,  "in  the  deep  dawn"  — 
"  they  came  unto  the  sepulchre  ;  "  that  is,  certain  women,  as 
it  appears  ;  bringing  with  them  sweet  spices,  which  were 
used  in  ancient  times,  as  they  are  found  in  the  mummies  in 
the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  to  preserve,  by  their  antiseptic  pow- 
ers, the  body  from  corruption,  and  keep  it  apparently  living 
as  long  as  possible.  The  very  embalming  of  their  dead  by 
the  ancient  Egyptians  was  only  a  struggling  presentiment  of 
immortality,  or  a  thirst  which  human  nature  in  its  agony  ex- 
hibits for  that  existence  hereafter,  and  reluctance  to  give 
way  to  death,  which  is  one  of  the  deepest  instincts  of  our 
common  nature.     These  women,  therefore,  brought  spices  in 

(454) 


LUKE  XXIV.  455 

order  to  embalm  that  body  which  was  now  taken  from  them, 
without  expecting  that  he  was  really  to  rise  again.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  powerful  proofs  of  the  reality  of  the  Resurrec- 
tion, and  of  the  credibility  of  its  witnesses,  that  there  was 
not  one  of  them  that  expected  it.  They  had  heard  Jesus 
dimly  intimate  the  fact,  but  neither  an  apostle,  a  disciple, 
nor  a  friend  of  Jesus,  clearly  comprehended  or  really  ex- 
pected that  he  would  rise  again  from  that  sepulchre  in  which 
he  was  laid  —  the  sepulchre  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  hewn 
out  of  the  rock,  in  which  no  man  was  ever  laid  before. 
When  they  came  to  this  deep  cave  in  the  rock,  they  found 
the  stone  rolled  away  from  the  sepulchre.  Let  us  recollect 
that  the  stone  was  ordered  to  be  placed  there  by  the  Phar- 
isees, because  a  rumor  went  abroad  that  his  disciples  would 
steal  the  body,  and  say  that  he  had  risen  from  the  dead; 
they  therefore  ordered  a  large  stone  —  it  may  have  been  of  a 
ton  weight  —  a  very  large  and  massive  stone,  to  be  put  at  the 
sepulchre,  and  sealed  and  made  secure ;  and  they  appointed 
a  guard  —  a  Roman  guard  —  to  watch  the  tomb  ;  and  it  was 
a  moonlight  night.  Now,  you  have  often  heard  explained  the 
utter  impossibility  that  eleven  apostles,  men  that  possessed 
no  resources,  could  have  come,  caught  a  Roman  guard  all 
asleep  with  singular  unanimity  at  the  same  moment,  (when 
a  Roman  sentinel  found  sleeping  at  his  post  was  punished 
with  instant  death,)  and  these  eleven  men  rolled  away  a 
stone  of  a  ton  weight,  after  unsealing  it,  took  out  this  body 
in  the  moonlight,  when  Jerusalem  had  at  least  a  million  of 
people  in  it,  and  of  that  million  vast  numbers  bivouacked 
upon  the  streets,  because  it  was  a  high  festival,  and  there  was 
not  room  enough  in  the  houses.  Is  it  credible  that  these 
eleven  men  carried  this  body  through  the  streets,  and  so  se- 
creted it  that  the  organized  police  of  Rome  were  unable  to 
find  it,  and  never  found  it  to  this  day  ?  Who  is  the  credulous 
man  ?  It  is  the  sceptic,  not  the  Christian.  It  needs  an  im- 
mense mass  of  credulity,  of  stupid  credulity,  to  be  a  sceptic; 


456  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

it  needs  but  coninion  sense  and  a  candid  mind,  to  accept  of 
the  truths  of  Christianity. 

We  read  that  after  this,  when  they  came  to  the  tomb  and 
found  not  Jesus,  they  were  afraid,  and  bowed  their  faces  to 
the  ground.  And  two  angels,  called  here  "  men,"  stood  by 
them  in  shining  garments,  and  said,  "  Why  seek  ye  the  liv- 
ing among  the  dead  ?  "  How  like  is  that  to  the  passage  in 
the  Book  of  Revelation  :  "  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega ;  I  was 
dead  and  am  alive,  and  live  for  ever."  And  then  these  two 
angel  ministrants  appealed  to  them  and  said,  "  Do  not  you 
recollect  what  he  said  to  you,  how  he  spoke  to  you,  The  Son 
of  man  must  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  sinful  men,  and 
be  crucified,  and  the  third  day  rise  again  ?  "  How  beautiful 
is  that !  that  these  angels  should  not  proclaim  something 
from  their  own  minds,  but  should  appeal  to  that  written  tes- 
timony which  Christ  had  given,  and  which  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Scriptures  contained.  We  may  just  notice  here,  too, 
how  remarkable  these  Avords  are,  "  He  is  not  here,  but  is 
risen."  The  members  of  the  Church  of  Rome  allege  that 
the  body  of  Christ  can  be  upon  ten  thousand  altars  at  one 
and  the  same  moment,  by  a  special  property  that  belongs  to 
it.  But  here  is  the  assertion  that  his  body  —  as  God  he  fills 
all  space  —  can  only  be  in  one  place  at  a  time.  "  He  is  not 
here,  but  risen."  He  cannot  be  here  and  there  at  one  and 
the  same  moment ;  a  decisive  proof  that  he  was  true  man, 
in  all  points  like  as  avc  are,  sin  excepted.  Now  when  these 
women  —  Mary  Magdalene,  and  Joanna,  and  Mary  the 
mother  of  James  —  heard  these  things,  they  came  and  told 
them  to  the  apostles.  How  completely  does  woman  seem  to 
have  recovered  the  position  that  she  lost  in  Paradise !  She 
was  first  deceived  ;  she  was  first  the  deceiver  of  Adam^  and 
she  was  therefore  the  first,  and  chiefest,  and  guiltiest  criminal 
of  the  twain ;  but  at  the  crucifixion  we  find  traits  come  out 
that  cannot  be  mere  accident.  Amid  all  the  clamor  of 
tongues  that  yelled  through  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  against 


LUKE   XXIV.  457 

the  blessed  Redeemer,  not  one  female  voice  was  heard.  In 
every  instance  where  a  woman  appears  in  the  Gospel,  it  is 
to  shelter  and  give  a  home  and  hospitality  to  the  houseless 
Son  of  man.  When  he  hung  upon  the  cross  they  were  the 
last  to  abandon  him ;  and  when  he  rose  from  the  tomb  they 
were  the  first  to  visit  the'  grave,  and  carry  the  glad  tidings 
of  great  joy.  Thus  it  seems  as  if  it  were  designed  in  the 
great  economy  of  heaven  that  she  who  was  first  in  the  fall 
should  be  first  also  in  the  grand  restoration.  Peter  and  the 
rest  of  the  apostles  thought  it  was  an  idle  tale :  "  Then  arose 
Peter,  and  ran  unto  the  sepulchre ;  and  stooping  down,  he 
beheld  the  linen  clothes  laid  by  themselves."  This  seems 
one  of  the  most  trivial  remarks  that  could  possibly  be  made. 
An  ordinary  historian  striking  out  a  story  would  never  have 
thought  of  putting  in  what  would  be  thought  so  trivial  a 
thing  as  that  the  linen  clothes  that  were  wrapped  about  his 
head  were  rolled  up  and  laid  aside,  or,  as  it  is  here,  laid  by 
themselves.  This  is,  however,  most  instructive ;  for  what 
does  it  show  ?  That  when  Christ  rose,  the  body  could  not 
have  been  removed  by  others  ;  because,  if  others  had  come 
to  do  it  by  stealth,  they  would  have  left  every  thing  in  con- 
fusion. If  you  have  ever  been  in  a  shop  that  has  been 
robbed,  or  a  house  that  has  been  broken  into,  you  will  find 
that  the  thieves  have  carried  away  the  wealth,  but  they  have 
left  every  thing  in  confusion  in  every  place  into  which  they 
have  penetrated.  They  have  no  time  to  arrange  or  lay 
aside  the  parcels  that  they  have  disturbed.  But  here  you 
find  that  the  clothes  were  rolled  up,  and  carefully  laid  aside. 
The  Resurrection  was  not  a  thing  done  violently  and  in 
alarm,  but  composedly  and  calmly,  as  a  thing  previously 
arranged,  and  perfectly  and  quietly  completed. 

After  this  we  have  an  exquisite  gem  —  the  more  beautiful 
for  its  setting  —  that  of  the  two  disciples  that  were  journey- 
ing to  Emmaus,  about  threescore  furlongs  from  Jerusalem ; 
and  these  two  disciples,  on  the  Sunday — for  it  was  our 
39 


458  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

Sunday  —  talked  together  abont  the  thmgs  which  had  hap- 
pened. I  may  here,  in  speaking  of  the  Sunday,  show  you 
how  there  were  three  days  between  the  crucifixion  and 
resurrection.  Our  Lord  was  crucified  between  the  evenings, 
that  is,  about  three  o'clock  on  the  Friday,  and  he  rose  from 
the  dead  in  the  deep  dawn,  or  in  the  morning  of  what  we 
call  Sunday.  Now  recollect,  it  was  not  three  complete  days, 
in  the  sense  that  they  were  three  times  twenty-four  hours. 
The  Jewish  days,  as  you  are  aware,  begin  always  at  sunset. 
If  you  walk  along  the  streets  of  London  you  will  see  every 
Jew  put  to  shame  many  Christians ;  I  have  seen  the  shutters 
up,  and  on  some  of  the  Jewish  shops  bills  stating  that  their 
shops  closed  at  such  an  hour  on  Friday,  they  will  open  at 
such  an  hour  on  Saturday.  The  Jew's  Sunday  begins  at 
sunset  on  Friday ;  his  shop  would  close  at  four  o'clock  in 
winter,  then  at  five,  then  at  seven,  as  sunset  is  later,  and 
lastly  towards  nine.  That  is  the  beginning  of  his  Sunday  ; 
and  Saturday  at  sunset  ends  his  Sunday.  Now  if  Christ 
was  crucified  on  Friday,  from  Thursday  night  till  Friday 
night  was  the  first  day.  He  was  crucified  three  or  four 
hours  before  the  end  of  the  first  day.  From  Friday  night 
till  Saturday  night  at  six  o'clock  was  the  second  day ;  and 
from  Saturday  night  at  six  o'clock  till  Sunday  night  at  six 
o'clock,  p.  M.  w'as  the  third  day ;  so  that  Jesus  plainly  rose 
about  the  middle  of  the  third  day  after  his  crucifixion.  We 
thus  see  how  exact  and  strict  the  words  are,  "  He  rose  again 
from  the  dead  on  the  third  day." 

Now  these  disciples  were  journeying  to  Emmaus,  and 
they  talked  together  about  the  things  that  had  happened. 
These  things  had  made  a  very  deep  and  solemn  impression, 
and  "they  were  themselves  believers,  though  unenlightened 
believers,  in  the  doctrine  of  the  cross.  While  they  were 
doing  so,  Jesus  drew  near  and  went  with  them.  That  was 
constituting  them  a  church.  What  is  a  church  ?  The  radi- 
cal definition  is,  "  Wheresoever  two  or  three  are  met  together 


LUKE  XXIV.  459 

in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  Now,  here 
is  a  specimen  of  a  movable  churcli ;  it  was  a  church  journey- 
ing from  Jerusalem  towards  the  village  of  Emmaus  ;  and  a 
truer  church  than  is  often  met  with  in  media3val  cathedrals, 
amidst  all  the  pomp  and  splendor  of  gorgeous  rites.  Jesus 
drew  near,  "  but  their  eyes  were  holden  that  they  should  not 
know  him."  It  was  not  that  he  was  altered,  but  that  their 
eyes  were  withheld,  or  rendered  unable  to  see  him;  not 
their  sight  taken  away,  but  their  cognizance  of  his  individu- 
ality darkened.  "And  he  said  unto  them  "  —  now  here  is  a 
specimen  of  not  revealing  oneself,  and  yet  not  stating  what 
is  untrue  —  "And  he  said  unto  them.  What  manner  of  com- 
munications are  these  that  ye  have  one  to  another,  as  ye 
walk,  and  are  sad  ?  "  He  knew  quite  well,  but  he  asked  in 
order  to  get  the  answer;  and  in  another  part,  where .  they 
spoke  of  these  things,  he  asked,  "  What  things  ?  "  —  simply, 
not  revealing  himself.  "And  the  one  of  them,  whose  name 
was  Cleopas,  answering  said  unto  him.  Art  thou  only  a 
stranger  in  Jerusalem,"  —  literally,  "  Hast  thou  been  lodging 
in  Jerusalem  ?  "  meaning  that  at  that  great  festival  from  all 
parts  of  the  empire  many  were  met  in  Jerusalem,  —  "  Hast 
thou  been  lodging  in  Jerusalem,  and  hast  not  known  the 
things  which  are  come  to  pass  there  in  these  days  ?  "  And 
when  he  said,  "  What  things  ?  "  they  answered,  "  Concerning 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  which  was  a  prophet."  The  word  "  was  " 
there  is  in  the  imperfect  tense,  "  which  continued  to  be  and 
showed  himself  to  be  a  prophet,  mighty  in  deed "  — ■-  his 
miracles  —  "  and  word  "  —  "  jl^ever  man  spake  like  this 
man "  —  "  before  God  and  all  the  people  :  and  how  the 
chief  priests  and  our  rulers  delivered  him  to  be  condemned 
to  death,  and  have  crucified  him.  But  we  trusted"  —  and 
they  thought  their  trust  had  given  way  —  "that  it  had  beqn 
he  which  should  have  redeemed  Israel :  and  beside  all  this, 
to-day  is  the  third  day  since  these  things  were  done,"  and 
we  fear  Israel  is  not  yet  delivered.     But  they  added, — 


460  scRirxuKE  readings. 

what  had  startled  them  and  made  them  think  there  was 
something  more  in  it  than  met  the  eye,  —  that  certain  women 
came  who  had  seen  a  vision  of  angels,  and  they  said  he  was 
alive,  and  that  the  sepulchre  was  empty,  and,  when  they 
looked  in,  they  saw  him  not.  Then  Jesus  said  to  them, 
"  0  fools,  and  slow  of  heart !  "  It  is  a  pity  that  the  word  is 
translated  "  fools  "  —  it  is  a  most  improper  translation.  The 
Greek  word  is  avorjTOL,  which  means  men  without  perception. 
"  O  persons,"  as  it  were,  "  inconsiderate,  unthinking,  without 
justly  examining  the  truths  and  facts  that  have  come  before 
you."  And  then  he  says,  "  If  you  believe  these  prophets, 
ought  not  the  Messiah  —  the  Messiah  spoken  of  in  prophecy 
—  ought  he  not  to  have  suffered  these  very  things  that  you 
are  so  startled  at?"  And  then  after  that  he  preached  a 
sermon  that  we  wish  we  had,  but  that  no  doubt  it  is  better 
that  we  have  not,  for  if  it  had  been  good  for  us  it  had  been 
given ;  beginning  at  Moses,  and  the  Psalms,  and  the  Prophets, 
he  showed  them  all  the  things  concerning  himself.  Thus  it 
is  quite  true  that  Moses  and  the  prophets  wrote  about  Christ. 
And  then  "  they  drew  nigh  unto  the  village,  whither  they 
went."  They  must  have  taken  some  seven  or  eight  hours  to 
walk  the  long  distance.  "And  he  made  as  though  he  would 
have  gone  further.  But  they  constrained  him,  saying,  Abide 
with  us :  for  it  is  toward  evening,  and  the  day  is  far  spent. 
And  he  went  in  to  tarry  with  them.  And  it  came  to  pass, 
as  he  sat  at  meat  with  them,  he  took  bread,  and  blessed  it, 
and  gave  unto  them.  And  their  eyes  were  opened,  and  they 
knew  him ;  and  he  vanished  out  of  their  sight."  Now  this 
was  not  the  Lord's  Supper.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  no 
proof  whatever  that  the  Lord's  Supper  was  celebrated  a 
second  time  till  after  the  ascension  of  Christ,  and  the  pouring 
out  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God :  at  least  till  after  the  ascen- 
sion. It  was  celebrated  first  by  himself,  and  there  were 
present  only  twelve  apostles  ;  and  these  two  discij^les  jour- 
neying to  Emmaus  could  have  known  nothing  about  the 


LUKE    XXIY.  461 

institution  at  all ;  at  least  in  all  probability  they  did  not ; 
and  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  they  that  doubted  the  mean- 
ing and  the  end  of  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper  could 
have  celebrated  it  without  some  instruction  or  information 
about  its  meaning.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  it  was  simply 
an  act  of  hospitality.  Protestants  have  rarely  supposed  it 
was  the  Lord's  Supper.  But  the  Roman  Catholics  have  an 
omission  in  their  mass  :  they  do  not  give  the  cup  to  the  laity, 
though  Christ  said  of  the  bread,  "  Take,  eat,"  but  of  the  cup 
especially  —  as  if  a  prophetic  anticipation  of  its  omission  — 
"  Drink  ye  all  of  it."  Now  the  Roman  Catholics  are  ill  off 
for  texts  to  vindicate  the  practice  they  have  introduced  in 
later  years,  of  withholding  the  cup;  and  in  this  instance 
they  apply  to  the  Lord's  Supper  this  passage,  because  there 
is  no  mention  about  the  cup.  But  it  is  clear  that  it  does  not 
relate  to  the  Lord's  Supper;  and  not  relating  to  it,  they 
cannot  prove  that  it  is  an  authority  for  the  omitting  of  the 
cup  in  the  administration  of  it. 

How  beautiful  is  that  passage,  "  Did  not  our  hearts  burn 
within  us  "  —  what  joy,  what  delight,  what  ecstasy  did  we 
feel  when  he,  the  Inspirer  of  the  Bible,  eloquently  ex- 
pounded that  Bible,  and  showed  us  what  we  thought  dim 
shadows,  to  be  lights  which  show  his  own  glory  and  bright- 
ness !  And  then  when  he  disappeared  from  them,  the  self- 
same hour  they  returned  to  Jerusalem,  and  said  to  the 
eleven,  "  The  Lord  is  risen  indeed ; "  that  is  to  say,  there  is 
no  doubt  about  it  any  more ;  and,  in  order  to  put  an  end  to 
it,  "  Jesus  himself  stood  in  the  midst  of  them."  We  read 
that  the  two  disciples  knew  Jesus  "  in  breaking  of  bread." 
How  is  it  that  Christ  could  have  been  known  by  his  break- 
ing of  bread  ?  These  two  disciples  journeying  to  Emmaus 
did  not  know  him  by  his  speech ;  their  eyes  were  holden 
that  they  did  not  comprehend  him.  How  is  it  that  they 
knew  him  by  his  breaking  of  bread  ?  One  explanation  is, 
that  th'e  veil  or  mist  was  withdrawn  from  their  eyes ;  the 
39* 


462  SCRIPTUIIE    READINGS. 

otlier  explanation,  and  not  tlie  less  probable,  is,  that  when 
he  took  the  bread  in  his  holy  hand  to  distribute,  they  saw 
the  mark  of  the  nails  that  had  been  there,  just  as  he  showed 
them  afterwards  the  mark  of  the  nails  on  his  hands  and  his 
feet ;  and  by  the  mark,  or  scar,  that  was  left,  they  knew  that 
it  was  the  Lord  indeed.  We  then  find  that  some  of  them 
were  troubled,  and  in  another  gospel  -we  learn  that  espec- 
ially Thomas  was  so.  And  Jesus  said  to  them,  "Behold 
my  hands  and  my  feet,  that  it  is  I  myself:  handle  me,  and 
see ;  for  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones,  as  ye  see  me 
have."  And  w^e  read  that  he  ate  "  a  piece  of  a  broiled  fish, 
and  of  an  honeycomb." 

There  were  three  stages,  if  you  will  allow  the  expression, 
in  our  Lord's  personality.  First,  as  he  was  from  his  birth 
to  his  crucifixion ;  and  secondly,  during  the  period  that  he 
was  on  the  earth  after  his  resurrection  and  prior  to  his 
ascension ;  and,  thirdly,  as  he  now  is  in  his  ascended  state. 
There  is  some  reason  for  believing  that  our  bodies,  in  the 
millennial  reign  when  Christ  comes  again,  raised  from  the 
dead,  will  just  be  like  his  risen  body  during  its  forty  days' 
sojourn  upon  the  earth ;  and  that  after  the  millennial  reign 
our  bodies  will  be  like  his  ascension  body,  something  more 
glorious  still. 

He  again  explains  the  Scriptures  respecting  himself;  and 
gave  their  commission  to  the  apostles,  and  said,  "  I  send  you 
the  promise  of  my  Father  "  —  that  is,  the  pouring  out  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  as  expressed  at  greater  length  in  John's 
Gospel.  And  they  were  to  tarry  at  Jerusalem,  as  we  find, 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  they  actually  did.  And  then 
"  he  was  parted  from  them,  and  carried  up  into  heaven," 
which  is  a  brief  account  of  his  ascension  ;  and  we  are  told 
that  in  like  manner  as  he  ascended  into  heaven,  so  will  he 
come  again.  In  the  5  2d  verse  we  have  the  evident  asser- 
tion of  his  deity ;  for  "  they  worshipped  him."  I  admit  that 
the  word  translated  here  "  worship,"  is  sometimes  used  in 


LUKE   XXIV.  463 

the  sense  of  deference  or  respect  to  a  superior  person.  But 
here  he  was  received  out  of  sight,  was  lifted  into  heaven ; 
and  therefore  the  word  is  evidently  used  in  the  strictest 
sense  —  they  gave  him  divine  worship  and  adoration.  And 
they  "  returned  to  Jerusalem  with  great  joy,  and,"  as  became 
the  recipients  of  such  good  news,  "  they  were  continually  in 
the  temple,"  while  the  temple  stood,  "  praising  and  blessing 
God.     Amen." 


CHAPTEK     XXIV.  44-47. 

CHRIST   THE   PREACHER   AND    THE   SUBJECT  —  CHRISt's    REVERENCE 
OF    THE    BIBLE  —  THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    INSPIRED  —  PORTRAIT 

OF  JESUS  —  A  DIVINE  TEACHER  —  SUFFICIENCY  OF  SCRIPTURE 

PREACHING    THE    CROSS  —  AMBASSADOR   AND   PRIEST — THE  JEW 
FIRST. 

I  MUST  toucli  for  a  little  on  one  very  interesting  part  of 
the  chapter :  "And  he  said  unto  them,  These  are  the  words 
which  I  spake  unto  you,  while  I  was  yet  with  you,  that  all 
things  must  be  fulfilled,  which  were  written  in  the  law  of 
Moses,  and  in  the  prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms,  concerning 
me.  Then  opened  he  their  understanding,  that  they  might 
understand  the  Scriptures,  and  said  unto  them,  Thus  it  is 
written,  and  thus  it  behooved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise 
from  the  dead  the  third  day :  and  that  repentance  and  re- 
mission of  sins  should  be  preached  in  liis  name  among  all 
nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem." 

"We  have  dwelt  so  long  on  the  exposition  of  the  chapter, 
from  its  singular  beauty,  as  well  as  its  being  the  last  of  this 
Gospel,  that  I  shall  not  say  much  in  exhibiting  this  expres- 
sive though  brief  epitome  of  the  distinguishing  truths  of 
Christianity.  It  was  a  deeply  interesting  scene,  a  highly 
favored  congregation,  when  Christ  himself,  risen  from  the 
dead,  appeared  in  the  midst  of  the  wondering  group,  and 
himself  became  the  preacher  of  the  great  salvation  which 
he  had  effected  upon  the  cross,  and  commissioned  them  now 
to  proclaim  to  mankind.  There  are  certain  truths,  however, 
in  t4iis  small  portion  of  the  chapter  that  are  extremely  in- 

(464) 


LUKE  XXIV.  465 

structive  and  suggestive.  The  first  is,  that  when  Jesus 
preached  to  them,  the  book  that  he  appealed  to  for  the  con- 
firmation of  tlie  doctrines  that  he  taught  was  the  word  of 
God,  the  Bible,  and  that  alone,  —  "  the  things  written  in  the 
law,  in  Moses  and  the  prophets,  concerning  me."  He  ap- 
pealed to  no  other  standard,  he  quoted  no  other  authority ; 
he  accepted  the  Bible  as  the  exponent  of  the  mind  and  will 
of  God ;  and  by  that  he  set  the  precedent  it  becomes  us  to 
imitate,  by  appealing  for  the  confirmation  of  every  doctrine 
to  this  volume.  How  great  must  be  the  glory  of-  that  per- 
fect book,  seeing  the  Inspirer  of  the  book  sets  the  precedent 
of  appealing  to  the  book  !  He  might  have  superseded  it  by 
his  own  declaration ;  he  might  have  ignored  it  —  Moses,  the 
law,  and  the  prophets  —  altogether,  just  as  we  disregard  the 
taper  of  earth  and  the  stars  of  the  sky  amid  the  blazing 
splendor  of  meridian  day.  But  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
present  in  the  midst  of  them,  instead  of  putting  out  the  an- 
cient lights  he  had  kindled,  put  these  lights  forward  in 
greater  splendor,  and  appealed  to  what  was  written  in  the 
law  and  in  the  prophets  respecting  the  truths  that  related 
to  himself.  I  do  not  know  a  higher  testimony  to  the  great- 
ness of  the  book  than  that  the  Author  of  the  book  should 
constantly  appeal  to  it.  If  we  read  Christ's  controversies 
with  the  Scribes,  the  Pharisees,,  and  the  Sadducees,  we  find 
in  every  instance  that  he  says  to  them,  "  Have  ye  not 
read?"  —  is  it  not  written?  —  what  say  the  Scriptures?  — 
"  Search  the  Scriptures,  for  these  are  they  which  testify  of 
me."  What  makes  this  book  still  more  precious,  is  the  fact 
that  when  he  expressed  the  innermost  experiences  of  his 
heart,  he  did  so  not  in  words  struck  out  for  the  moment,  as 
he  might  have  done,  but  in  the  very  words  provided  for  him 
in  the  Psalms  some  hundred  years  before  —  "  My  God,  my 
God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ? "  "  Into  thy  hands  I 
commend  my  spirit."  I  cannot,  therefore,  think  that  such  a 
book,  having  such  an  imprimatur^  ought  to  be  lightly  spoken 


466  scmrTURE  readings. 

of;  and  what  shall  we  think  then  of  one  who  in  this  land 
has  been  sent  to  represent  the  sovereign  of  the  Roman 
States,  and  who,  writing  concerning  this  book,  says  that  the 
Bible  is  a  book  unintelligible,  that  it  has  turned  pious  and 
good  heathens  into  a  pack  of  lazy  infidels  and  sceptics! 
What  a  contrast  between  a  cardinal  speaking  of  the  Bible, 
and  the  Lord  of  Glory  !  —  the  one  appealing  to  it  for  all,  the 
other  denouncing  it  as  unfit  for  the  perusal  and  perilous  to 
the  interests  of  mankind ! 

We  have  here  evidence  that  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures 
are  full  of  Jesus  Christ:  "The  things  written  in  Moses  and 
the  prophets  concerning  me."  Now  in  what  respect  is 
Christ  thus  written  of  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  ? 
We  have  him  in  types,  —  the  rock  that  was  rent,  the  pillar 
of  cloud  by  day,  the  brazen  serpent ;  and  those  types,  like  a 
network  of  silver  containing  apples  of  gold,  exhibit  within 
their  tiny  dimensions  something  of  the  greatness  and  the 
glory  of  him  who  inspired  Moses  to  record  them.  Then  we 
have  promises  sounding  along  the  centuries  like  sweet  voices 
along  the  corridors  of  a  majestic  temple,  and  breathing  forth 
Christ  that  was  about  to  come ;  then  Ave  have  the  ancient 
prophets,  august  and  impressive  ambassadors,  saying,  "  We 
are  not  that  Christ :  we  are  not  that  prophet ;  he  cometh 
after  us  whose  shoe  latchet  we  are  not  worthy  to  unloose : 
behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
world." 

In  the  next  place,  we  learn  from  this  appeal  that  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures  were  inspired  of  God.  Jesus  appeals 
to  Moses,  the  Psalms,  and  the  Prophets,  as  being  an  inspired 
exposition  of  the  things  concerning  himself.  Now  if  these 
prophets,  some  of  them  living  a  thousand  years  before, 
wrote  respecting  Christ,  they  must  have  been  inspired  to  do 
so,  or  in  some  instances  they  would  have  been  mistaken. 
Read  all  the  prophets  previous  to  Isaiah,  beginning  with 
Moses  and  with  Job,  and  ending  with  Malachi ;  in  differ- 


LUKE  XXIV.  467 

ent  centuries,  in  different  circumstances,  in  different  styles, 
they  all  prophesy  respecting  a  personage  who  was  to  come 
into  the  world  in  the  fulness  of  the  times.  Isaiah  says 
he  is  a  sufferer,  crucified,  dead ;  Malachi  says  he  is  the 
Mighty  God ;  and  another  says,  "  whose  goings  forth  have 
been  of  old,  even  for  ever."  One  says  he  is  to  come  in 
glory  ;  another  says  he  is  to  come  in  humility.  One  says 
he  is  to  bear  a  cross ;  another,  he  is  to  wear  a  crown.  Now 
how  can  you  —  supposing  the  New  Testament  extinct,  or 
supposing  its  non-existence  —  apply  these  seemingly  distinc- 
tive sketches  to  one  grand  and  living  original  ?  You  cannot 
till  you  see  him  ;  but  when  Christ  comes,  you  find  he  is  not 
a  person  that  may  by  a  little  adaptation  fit  the  prophecy,  but 
that  he  is  the  only  person  that  starts  upon  the  floor  of  the 
world  in  whom  all  the  promises  find  their  fulfilment,  and  all 
prophecies  their  complete  and  perfect  exhaustion.  The  an- 
SAver  then  must  be  what  is  given  in  Scripture  itself —  "  Holy 
men  of  old  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 
In  the  next  place,  we  learn  from  this  passage  to  be  truly 
thankful  for  what  is  stated  here,  —  that  the  Scriptures  are 
genuine  :  "  All  that  is  written  in  the  law  of  Moses,  and  in 
the  Prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms  concerning  me."  Every 
specimen  we  have  of  traditional  opinion  leads  us  more  and 
more  to  the  conclusion  that  tradition  is  not  a  trustworthy 
guide  to  Christ,  to  truth,  or  to  heaven.  Many  instances  are 
given  in  the  Bible  :  here  is  one  instance  very  remarkable, 
and  it  has  been  frequently  alluded  to.  It  occurs  where 
Jesus  spoke  of  John  in  terms  of  special  approbation.  Peter 
said,  "  What  shall  this  man  do  ?  Jesus  said,  If  I  will  that 
he  tarry  till  I  come,  what  is  that  to  thee  ? "  Now  mark 
what  is  added :  here  is  a  tradition  ;  here  is  one  of  the  very 
purest,  earliest,  primitive  traditions.  If  any  traditions  are 
likely  to  be  good,  the  primitive  ones  are  likely  to  be  so. 
"  Then  went  this  saying  abroad,  that  that  disciple  should  not 
die."     That  is  a  tradition.     Now  mark  how  Scripture  steps 


468  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

in  and  beautifully  quenches  it ;  "  Jesus  said  not  unto  tliem, 
He  shall  not  die  ;  but,  If  I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I  come, 
what  is  that  to  thee  ?  "  What  an  evidence  to  us  that  tra- 
ditions are  to  be  corrected  by  Scripture,  not  Scripture  ex- 
plained by  tradition  !  If  this  text  had  only  been  read  in  any 
one  of  the  sessions  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  they  would  not 
have  talked  so  much  nonsense,  and  canonized  so  large  a 
mass  of  heresy,  as  they  have  had  the  misfortune  to  do.  We 
have,  therefore,  the  Scriptures  spoken  of  here  as  written, 
and  because  written  they  are  to  us  on  that  account  the  more 
precious,  and  the  more  accessible  to  us  and  our  children. 

Traditions  of  ancient  truths  were  distorted  into  all  the 
monstrous  practices  of  heathendom.  The  Jews  had  the 
written  Scriptures ;  and  those  Avritten  Scriptures  constantly 
the  corrective  of  every  attempt  on  the  part  of  Scribe  and 
Pharisee  to  put  tradition  in  their  place:  and  Protestant 
Christianity  is  pure  because  it  leans  on  the  written  word  ; 
Romish  Christianity  is  corrupt  because  it  draws  its  inspira- 
tion from  oral  and  transmitted  tradition. 

Let  me  notice  another  very  important  lesson  here.  When 
Jesus  wished  his  disciples  to  understand  the  Scriptures,  what 
did  he  do  ?  You  will  be  told  by  Tractarian  divines  and  by 
priests  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  that  what  we  need  is  the 
opinion  of  the  priest  to  explain  the  writings  of  the  apostles, 
the  traditions  of  the  Church  to  illustrate  the  truths  of  the 
Bible  ?  But  you  do  not  find  this  to  be  the  case  in  the  Bible 
itself.  When  Jesus  wished  these  apostles,  previously  en- 
lightened, to  understand  the  Bible,  he  did  not  cast  more 
light  upon  the  written  book,  but  he  cast  more  light  upon  the 
understanding  of  the  readers  of  the  book.  He  did  not  give 
them  an  addition  to  the  Bible,  but  he  gave  them  additional 
light  to  their  understandings  ;  and  what  we  want  now  is  not 
a  new  Bible,  but  new  understanding  with  which  to  read  the 
old  Bible.  What  we  need  now  is  not  more  Scripture,  but 
more  understanding  within  of  the  Scripture.     The  book  is 


LUKE    XXIV.  469 

perfect,  the  reader  of  the  book  is  fallen.  We  do  not  want 
the  perfect  book  made  more  so,  which  is  impossible ;  but  the 
imperfect  reader  sanctified  and  enlightened,  which  ought  to 
be  the  subject  of  our  constant  prayer.  AYhat  would  be  the 
use  of  giving  the  blind  man  a  more  powerful  magnifying 
glass,  or  a  page  with  larger  and  more  beautiful  typography  ? 
What  the  man  wants  is  not  a  more  convex  lens,  or  a  larger 
type  on  the  page,  but  his  eyes  opened  ;  and  what  we  want, 
to  understand  the  Bible,  is  not  the  Bible  improved  — 
(though  explanation  is  auxiliary,  and  comment  is  in  itself 
precious)  — not  the  Bible  improved  or  illuminated,  but  our 
hearts  renewed,  that  in  the  light  of  this  precious  book  we 
may  understand  its  glorious  truths,  and  be  saved  thereby. 

Let  us  learn  another  lesson  from  this,  —  that  the  Old  and 
NcAV  Testaments  both  proclaim  the  same  blessed  Gospel. 
The  Jew  was  a  Christian  as  truly,  though  not  as  fully  and 
perfectly,  as  we  are.  The  Jew  had  the  Old  Testament 
Scripture,  which  was  full  of  Christ  in  the  type  ;  we  have  the 
New  Testament  Scripture,  which  reveals  Christ  as  he  is  in 
person.  The  one  is  not  a  religion  that  is  Jewish,  and  the 
other  a  religion  that  is  Christian ;  but  both  are  the  same 
religion  under  different  developments  :  the  one,  full  of  out- 
line not  filled  up ;  the  other,  the  outline  filled  up  and  bril- 
liantly illuminated.  The  Old  Testament  is  Christ  in  prom- 
ise, the  New  Testament  is  Christ  in  performance  ;  the  Old 
Testament  is  Christ  in  prophecy,  the  New  Testament  is 
Christ  in  history  ;  but  both,  like  the  twin  lips  of  an  oracle, 
utter  one  grand  truth,  preach  one  blessed  gospel ;  and  Levi, 
and  Moses,  and  Aaron  were  saved  by  the  same  Saviour  and 
through  tlie  same  blood  by  which  Matthew,  and  Peter,  and 
James,  and  John  were  saved.  There  never  has  been  but 
one  true  religion  from  the  first  promise  in  Paradise  to  the 
present  hour.  There  have  been  many  false,  but  always  and 
everywhere  one  true.  And  now,  mark  the  inference :  if 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  were  sufficient  to  teach  Christ, 
40 


470  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

(and  by  Jesus  appealing  to  them  for  that  purpose,  they  were 
so,)  then  a  fortiori  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments  to- 
gether are  sufficient  to  teach  Christ.  If  moonlight  can 
enable  me  to  see  an  exquisite  crystal  or  a  beautiful  flower, 
still  more  will  sunlight  enable  me  to  do  so.  If  in  the  dim 
and  misty  deep  dawn  of  the  ancient  Levitical  economy, 
Christ  could  be  seen,  believed  on,  and  men  be  saved  by  him, 
much  more  may  we  see  Christ  and  learn  Christ,  and  trust  in 
him,  as  he  is  revealed  in  the  New  Testament  economy,  and 
by  the  writings  of  the  apostles  and  evangelists  themselves. 

But  it  will  be  urged  by  some  one,  who  is  a  little  hanker- 
ing after  traditional  and  ecclesiastical  interpretation,  that 
those  apostles  in  that  day  had  a  Teacher  in  the  midst  of 
them  that  we  have  not ;  for  here  it  was  the  Old  Testament 
indeed  sufficient,  but  it  was  the  Old  Testament  explained, 
expounded,  and  unfolded  by  Christ  himself  who  inspired  it. 
My  answer  to  this  is,  that  there  is  the  declaration,  —  that  if 
they  are  blessed  who  have  seen  and  believe,  much  more 
blessed  are  they  who,  having  not  seen,  yet  have  believed. 
Besides,  what  are  we  told  by  that  very  Saviour  who  explain- 
ed the  Old  Testament  on  this  occasion  ?  "  It  is  expedient 
for  you  that  I  go  .away ;  but  when  the  Comforter  is  come, 
whom  I  will  send  in  my  name,  he  shall  teach  you  all  things," 
he  will  take  my  place.  Now,  you  may  have  —  and  it  is  not 
fanaticism,  it  is  not  superstition,  it  is  not  a  fevered  fancy,  it 
is  sober  and  spiritual  fact  —  teaching  you  as  really,  as  truly, 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  Christ's  substitute  till  he  come 
again,  as  these  apostles  had  Christ  in  the  midst  of  them,  ex- 
plaining, in  Moses,  in  the  Psalms,  and  in  the  Prophets,  the 
things  concerning  himself.  The  teaching  of  the  Holy 
)Spirit  is  a  reality ;  it  is  not  a  fancy,  it  is  not  a  mere  imagin- 
ation: no  man  ever  honestly  and  from  the  depth  of  his 
heart  sought  the  guidance  of  that  Divine  Teacher  who  was 
left  to  grope  in  final  and  in  total  darkness.  That  blessed 
Teacher  will  not  settle  questions  of  ecclesiastical  economy ; 


LUKE    XXIV.  471 

he  will  not  interfere  with  those  disputes  that  vex  and  con- 
vulse every  section  of  the  Church.  What  he  has  promised 
to  do,  is,  to  take  of  the  things  of  Christ,  and  to  show  them 
to  his  people.  He  will  take  of  the  things  of  Christ,  —  he 
will  not  take  of  the  things  of  John  Knox,  nor  yet  of  Ridley, 
nor  of  Cranmer,  nor  of  Martin  Luther,  nor  of  Wesley.  He 
will  not  take  these  things ;  these  are  the  shells,  the  husks 
that  perish  in  the  using ;  but  he  will  take,  and  he  does  take, 
the  things  that  relate  to  Christ,  —  vital,  saving,  and  precious 
truth.  And  there  is  not  a  beHever  in  Christendom,  however 
humble,  however  unlearned,  who  asks,  and,  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  seeks  this  great  Teacher,  who  shall  be  allowed  to 
grope  in  darkness,  or  perish  without  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
and  of  him  crucified. 

Now  recollect  this :  that  the  grand  difference,  probably, 
between  the  Protestant  Church  and  the  Romish,  would  just 
be  this,  —  that  we  say  it  was  expedient  that  Christ  should 
go  away ;  expedient,  because  as  long  as  Christ  was  a  mere 
man  he  could  only  be  in  one  place  at  a  time.  It  was  a  lamp, 
a  brilliant  lamp,  but  it  was  only  in  Jerusalem ;  but  that 
brilliant  lamp,  by  his  going  away,  was  set  in  the  bright 
firmament,  and  the  Spirit  that  he  has  sent  fills  all  space,  can 
illuminate  all  minds,  and  sanctify  all  hearts.  But,  in  the 
Church  of  Rome,  they  say  that  it  was  not  expedient  that 
Christ  should  go  away ;  and  hence,  they  have  got  his 
"  vicar,"  his  substitute,  —  one  who  sits  in  the  temple  of  God, 
showing  himself  as  if  he  were  God.  They  insist  that  they 
must  see  Christ,  or  they  cannot  live ;  and  as  they  cannot 
see  the  grand  and  blessed  original,  they  have  struck  out  a 
human  substitute  or  image,  and  call  him  the  vicar  oc  substi- 
tute of  Christ.  Our  vicar  of  Christ  is  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and 
every  Protestant  should  look  as  intensely  for  the  infallible 
teaching  of  the  infallible  Spirit,  as  the  poor  deluded  victim 
of  the  Church  of  Rome  looks  to  the  fallible  pope  for  his  most 
fallible  and  equivocal  teaching. 


472  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

In  the  next  place,  our  blessed  Lord  tells  them,  after  he 
had  thus  vindicated  the  Scriptures,  what  was  to  be  the 
great  subject  of  their  preaching.  After  he  had  explained 
all  the  things  that  were  written  "  in  the  law  of  Moses,"  — 
that  means,  the  five  Books  of  the  Pentateuch,  —  "and  in 
the  Prophets,"  —  that  is,  all  the  prophets,  the  greater  and 
the  minor,  —  "  and  in  the  Psalms,"  —  comprehending  in  this 
title  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes  and  the  Song  of  Solomon,  — 
"concerning  me,"  he  then  opened  their  minds,  and  said, 
"  Thus  it  is  written  "  —  in  these  Scriptures  —  "  and  thus  it 
behooved,"  or  became,  "  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the 
dead  the  third  day  : "  as  much  as  to  say.  Lest  you  should  be 
startled  that  Christ  was  a  sufferer;  still  more,  lest  you 
should  be  startled  by  Christ  having  risen  again  from  the 
dead,  you  will  find  it  in  your  own  Prophets,  in  Moses,  and 
in  the  Psalms,  that  the  Messiah  was  to  be  a  sufferer.  The 
fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah  is  proof  that  he  w^as  to  suffer ; 
the  sixteenth  Psalm  is  proof  that  he  was  to  rise  from  the 
dead,  and  never  to  see  corruption.  And  when  he  suffered, 
for  what  purpose  did  he  suffer  ?  Not  as  a  martyr,  to  show 
how  faithfully  he  believed  what  he  taught ;  not  as  an  ex- 
ample simply  to  us ;  but  as  a  propitiatory  Sacrifice  and  an 
Atonement  for  the  sins  of  all  that  believe.  We  have  been 
told  by  some  that  this  great  truth  ought  to  be  a  doctrine  of 
reserve ;  that  men  should  not  be  taught  the  atonement  first, 
but  only  the  efficacy  of  sacraments.  But  you  must  have 
been  struck,  in  reading  your  Bible,  with  this  fact,  —  that 
the  truth  that  rises  prominent  like  a  mountain  alp,  amid  all 
the  sister  alps  that  are  around  it,  is  just  the  great  doctrine 
of  the  Atonement  or  Sacrifice  of  Christ — that  the  very  first 
truth  that  an  apostle  preaches  is,  that  Christ  died  for  our 
sins ;  for  Paul  himself  says,  "  I  declared  unto  you  first  of 
all  that  Jesus  died  for  our  sins  according  .to  the  Scriptures." 
It  is  not  an  esoteric  doctrine,  —  not  a  truth  for  the  initiated ; 
but  it  is  the  truth  that  is  to  attract,  to  enlighten,  and  to  win 


LUKE    XXIV.  473 

the  uninitiated.  .  And  to  believe  in  the  atonement  is  not  to 
cany  a  crucifix  in  the  hand,  nor  is  it  merely  to  repeat  our 
creed  day  by  day ;  but  it  is  to  rest  upon  it,  to  have  it  incor- 
porated with  our  innermost  experience;  to  see  in  it  the 
great  plan  by  which  God  can  come  to  us,  and  by  which  we 
can  rise  to  God,  and  in  it  and  through  it  God  be  just,  whilst 
he  justifies  the  guiltiest  that  believe  on  Jesus.  And  there- 
fore, this  doctrine  of  the  atonement  is  only  equalled,  if  it  be 
equalled,  by  the  second  doctrine  that  he  unfolded  to  them, 
—  that  Christ  was  to  rise  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day. 
"  If  Christ  be  not  risen,"  says  the  apostle,  "  we  are  still  in 
our  sins.  If  he  be  not  risen,  the  atonement  is  not  com- 
pleted, or  God  did  not  accept  the  atonement ;  but  because 
he  rose  again  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day,  it  shows  that 
the  penalty  of  sin  was  exhausted  on  his  cross,  and  the  power 
of  death  was  dissolved  in  his  grave.  By  the  first,  our  sins 
are  forgiven ;  by  the  second, 

"  Every  atom  of  our  dust 

Rests  in  hope  again  to  rise." 

And  because  he  rose  from  the  dead,  he  entered  into  the 
true  holy  place,  to  bestow  from  the  throne  what  he  pur- 
chased on  the  cross,  to  make  good  from  heaven  what  he 
earned  by  his  blood  upon  the  earth,  ever  living*  to  make 
intercession  for  us.  These  are  the  tAvo  cardinal  truths  of  the 
Gospel.  You  may  err  about  many  things ;  you  may  be  im- 
perfectly enlightened  about  many  things ;  but  if  you  hold 
fast  these  two  great  jiillars  of  the  evangelical  system,  you 
have  what  will  stand  you  in  stead  at  that  day.  And  hence 
the  apostles  were  sent  forth  to  preach  that  Christ  died,  that 
Christ  rose  ;  and,  as  the  consequence,  "  repentance,"  —  the 
gift  of  Christ  as  a  King ;  "  remission  of  sins,"  —  the  gift  of 
Christ  as  a  Priest :  that  is,  repentance  from  his  throne,  re- 
mission of  sins  from  his  cross.  "  Beginning  at  Jerusalem," 
the  guiltiest  capital  of  all ;  giving  the  first  offer  where  there 


474  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

was  the  greatest  sin,  and  tlierefore  the  deepest  need.  And 
the  office  of  the  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  indicated  in  the 
very  commission.  What  is  a  minister's  function?  To  go 
and  preach  repentance  and  remission  of  sins.  Not  to  sell 
repentance,  not  to  give  repentance  or  remission  of  sins,  but 
to  preach  it.  In  other  words,  we  are  ambassadors  from 
Christ.  And  if  there  be  such  an  officer  as  a  priest  in  the 
existing  ministry  of  the  Gospel,  then  such  a  person  is  not  a 
Christian  pastor  at  all.  You  cannot  be  a  priest  and  be  an 
ambassador  at  the  same  time,  for  this  obvious  reason,  —  a 
priest  is  one  that  goes  to  God  and  transacts  with  God  on 
my  behalf ;  an  ambassador  is  just  the  reverse,  —  one  that 
comes  down  from  God,  and  deals  with  me  on  God's  behalf. 
If,  therefore,  any  will  assert  that  he  is  a  sacrificing  priest, 
the  logical  inference  must  be,  "  Then  you  are  not  an  ambas- 
sador of  Christ  at  all."  But  if  you  will  rather  take  the 
latter  position,  and  assert  that  he  is  what  if  governed  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  he  must  be,  then  the  logical  inference  is 
equally  correct,  —  he  is  not  what  he  does  not  pretend  to  be 
if  he  be  a  true  minister  —  a  sacrificing  priest.  And  here, 
too,  we  have  the  order  of  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  — 
"  beginning  at  Jerusalem."  The  Apostle  Paul  repeats  the 
sentiment  when  he  says,  "  To  the  Jew  first,  and  also  to  the 
Gentile ; "  and  the  Christian  Church  cannot  do  better  than 
copy  the  precedent  that  is  here  set,  —  have  first  its  missiona- 
ries to  the  Jews,  and  second,  always  second,  their  missiona- 
ries also  to  the  Gentile.  We  admit  that  there  is  little 
encouragement  to  preach  to  the  Jews ;  very  few  have  been 
converted.  If  immense  masses  of  the  Jews  had  been  con- 
verted, we  should  say,  prophecy  cannot  be  true.  I  believe 
that  the  Jews  will  be  converted,  as  a  nation,  by  the  special 
pouring  out  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  But  God  will  give  us 
here  one,  there  another,  just  to  comfort  us  with  tliis  blessed 
conviction,  that  he  has  not  foi-gotten  them,  that  he  has  not 
finally  cast  them  off;  and  tliat  we  may  patiently  and  prayer- 


LUKE   XXIV.  475 

fully  wait  till  that  clay  when  all  Israel  will  be  saved,  and 
homewards  from  the  snows  of  Russia,  and  from  the  burn- 
ing plains  of  India,  the  ancient  people  of  the  desert  shall 
march  in  more  majestic  procession  than  when  the  pillar  of 
cloud  headed  them  by  day,  and  the  pillar  of  fire  w^ent  before 
them  by  night. 

May  we  be  found  in  that  blessed  Saviour  at  that  day, 
having  in  our  hearts  rejientance,  and  on  us,  through  his 
blood,  remission  of  sins.     Amen. 


Note.  —  The  reason  why  they  did  not  know  him,  was  (ver.  16)  that 
their  eyes  were  supcrnaturally  influenced,  so  that  they  could  not.  (Sco 
also  ver.  31.)  No  change  took  place  in  him,  nor  apparently  in  them, 
beyond  a  power  upon  them,  which  prevented  the  recognition,  just  so 
much  as  to  delay  it  till  aroused  by  the  well-known  action  and  manner 
of  his  breaking  the  bread.  The  cause  of  this  was  the  will  of  the  Lord 
himself,  who  would  not  be  seen  by  them  till  the  time  when  he  saw  fit.  — 
h/yiaa^,  from  behind  ;  see  ver.  18,  where  they  take  him  for  an  inhabi- 
tant of  Jerusalem.  [17.]  He  had  apparently  been  walking  with  them 
some  little  time  before  this  was  said.  avn(3d?i?i£Lv  yoyovg  implies,  to 
dispute  with  some  earnestness;  but  there  is  no  blame  implied  in  the 
words.  Possibly,  though  both  were  sad,  they  may  have  taken  different 
views  ;  and  in  the  answer  of  Cleopas  we  have  that  of  the  one  who  was 
most  disposed  to  abandon  all  hope. 

But  I  take  the  rd  mpl  eavrov  to  mean  something  very  different  from 
mere  prophetical  passages.  The  whole  Scriptures  are  a  testimony  to 
him  ;  the  whole  history  of  the  chosen  people,  with  its  types,  and  its 
law,  and  its  prophecies,  is  a  showing  forth  of  him ;  and  it  was  here 
the  whole  —  liuaaL  at  yp.  —  that  he  laid  out  before  them.  This  general 
leading  into  the  meaning  of  the  whole,  as  a  whole  fulfilled  in  him, 
would  be  much  more  opportune  to  the  place  and  time  occupied,  than  a 
direct  exposition  of  selected  passages.  "  The  things  concerning  him- 
self" (E.  V.)  is  right,  not  "  the  parts  concerning  himself."  Observe 
the  testimony  which  this  verse  gives  to  the  divine  authority  and  the 
Christian  interpretation  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  ;  so  that  the 
denial  of  the  references  to  Christ's  death  and  glory  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  henceforth  nothing  but  a  denial  of  his  own  teaching. 


476  SCKIPTURE    READINGS. 

The  Lord  himself  foretold  his  ascension  (John  vi.  62;  xx.  17)  ;  it 
was,  immediately  after  his  disappearance  from  the  earth,  expressly 
announced  hy  the  apostles  (Acts  ii.  33,  34;  v.  31);  continued  to  be 
an  article  of  their  teaching  and  preaching  (1  Pet.  iii.  22  ;  Eph.  ii.  6; 
iv.  10  ;  1  Tim.  iii.  16).  So  for  should  we  be  assured  of  it  had  we  not 
possessed  the  testimonies  of  Luke,  here  and  in  the  Acts ;  for  the  frag- 
ment superadded  to  the  Gospel  of  Mark  merely  states  the  fact,  not  the 
manner  of  it.  But,  to  take  first  the  a  priori  view ;  is  it  probable  that 
the  Lord  would  have  left  so  Aveighty  a  fact  in  his  history  on  earth  with- 
out witnesses  ?  And  might  we  not  have  concluded,  from  the  wording 
of  John  vi.  62,  that  the  Lord  must  have  intended  an  ascension  in  the 
sight  of  some  of  those  to  whom  he  spoke,  and  that  the  Evangelist  him- 
self gives  that  hint,  by  recording  those  words  without  comment,  that 
he  had  seen  it  1  Then,  again,  is  there  any  thing  in  the  bodily  state  of 
the  Lord  after  his  resurrection  which  raises  any,  even  the  least,  diffi- 
cult}' here  ?  He  appeared  suddenly,  and  vanished  suddenly,  when  he 
pleased.  When  it  pleased  him,  he  ate,  he  spoke,  he  walked  ;  but  his 
body  was  the  body  of  the  resurrection,  only  not  yet  his  Giofia  tt/c  do^-rjg 
(Phil.  iii.  21 ),  because  he  had  not  yet  assumed  that  glory ;  but  that  he 
could  assume  it,  and  did  assume  it  at  his  ascension,  will  be  granted  by 
all  who  believe  in  him  as  the  Son  of  God.  — Alford. 


Due 


BS2595  .C971 

Sabbath  evening  readings  on  the  New 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Librar 


1    1012  00059  4830 


